The Heart Knows
by emilywong'seditor
Summary: Somewhat altered Mass Effect 1-3 and beyond. FemShep is creeped out by Kaidan, dreams of Garrus. Rating changed to M, because of sexual content. They are married in 2. She can't resist a cat. Reunited again, post Battle for Earth. (yes, I've mucked with the canon ending). Shakarian. And hey, please say something.
1. Chapter 1

This work is based on Mass Effect, which is owned by BioWare. It follows the first game, mostly with interludes between the missions.

The Heart Knows

Chapter 1

Cassidy Shepard walked aboard the Normandy, receiving the respectful salutes and congratulations of the crew in honor of her new command of the ship and her new status as a Spectre, the first human one at that. She returned to the bow and announced over the intercom that their mission was now to hunt Saren, the turian that brought the geth to attack Eden Prime. Turning the com off, she told Joker to set course to the Hades Gamma system so they could look into missing ExoGeni scientists on their way to the Artemis Tau cluster to find Dr. T'Soni.

Satisfied with the crew's response to her mission announcement, she went down to the captains' cabin to find her new linens tightly tucked onto the double bed and her few personal possessions placed on the desk. She went and picked up the frame, currently set to the picture of herself with her mom and dad, taken just after she had joined the Alliance, in her new uniform. She had been so proud and hopeful, not knowing of the black cloud she would acquire on Akuze. Her vision turned inward and back to when everything went sideways and only she made it out of the thresher maw's reach, stumbling determinedly onto the shuttle, holding back her shock, dismay and pain from venom burns, as she instructed the VI to set course back to their ship.

She shook her head and wanting to distract herself from further remembering, she opened her personal com account and started a message to her mom,

To: XO Hannah Shepard, SSV Kiliminjaro

Hi Mom! I hope you hear this from me before the news accounts. I'm a Council Spectre! If you get some leave on the Citadel, let me know, maybe we can meet up and catch up. I love you!

She sent the message, wishing that the communications were secure enough for more details, but Hannah would have to be content with the public news accounts for the time being. She sent a memo to Pressly for a meeting to transfer personnel duties, and then went out to inspect her crew and her ship.

–

At the excavation site on Trebin, Cassidy stared thoughtfully at the spikes in the back chamber. "Apparently the geth have been here, too." she said. Ashley replied, "We can look for signs but the husks have been wandering around for days at least so they may have muddled any prints geth might have left." Tali asked about the connection to Eden Prime and Ashley filled her in about the spikes. "They look like dragons' teeth", commented Ashley as Tali took video recordings with her omni-tool.

Back in her cabin, she sent off the report then printed images of dragons' teeth, husks, the glowing orb, geth, Matriarch Benezia, Saren, and that huge ship that they had seen lifting off of Eden Prime. She took them up to the conference room, pulled out a presentation board and taped them on the board and then wrote up notes of everything they knew about each one so far and then taped the notes up by their respective images. She liked the manual approach to solving mysteries and the manual effort of note writing helped her keep the facts in focus. She then hung the board on the wall for any of the crew to come and learn.

Garrus came in to the room as she was securing the board's last support. He walked up and read one of the notes. "Very organized, Commander, but surely you could have done this project on the computer more easily?"

Cassidy gave her stock reply, built up from all the times everyone else had made the same comment to her, "Well, doing it with paper helps me think as I write and this won't be inaccessible during system shutdowns or power outages. I also think that collaboration in person is more fruitful than through messaging, so this way encourages folks to come and think together." Garrus folded his arms across his waist as he continued to read her notes. He asked her about Eden Prime and soon they were chatting easily.

Cassidy invited Garrus down to the mess for lunch and inquired if they had stocked well enough for his needs.

"While you were in Spectre orientation, Captain Anderson gave me a requisition code, so I had some turian rations and supplies sent in. Dr. Chakwas brought in some dextro medical supplies as well. It's all good, Commander. Your crew is quite efficient."

They ate at the crew table and listened as the soldiers told stories about where their loved ones were and what they were doing based on the latest messages they had received. Kaidan and Ashley came in and joined the table, listening to Rosamund Draven tell jokes about her latest ex-boyfriend, a customs agent on Earth, with Talitha Draven piping up with snide comments from time to time.

As Cassidy and Garrus were getting up to leave, Wrex and Tali were arriving. Cassidy remained long enough to get assurances from them about their accommodations, then headed up to the CIC.

–

Edolus: The thresher maw finally went down as that last explosive round ripped its skull wide open. Cassidy let out a breath of relief. "Nice shooting, Ashley" "Nice evasive driving, Commander," Ashley replied. Cassidy drove over to the bodies scattered over the ground and leaped out. "Fan out and check for any signs of life." Cassidy felt her anger build higher with each body she found lifeless, the memory of venom burning into her skin alive in her mind. She straightened up, began to glow blue, then gathered the biotic energy, aiming the Warp at the distress beacon. Then she pulled out her pistol and shot at it, round after round until its lights went out and it was no longer upright. "We need to tell Admiral Kahoku what happened here," said Kaidan, finishing the scanning of dog tags. Cassidy just glared at the mangled beacon then turned and stalked to the Mako. She reached in and turned on the outside speakers. She stood at attention as "Taps" floated over the scene. After the final note faded off into the distance, she turned toward the Mako. "Kaidan, take the wheel" she said as she crawled into the back. Under the helmet she let a tear fall as she silently reprised "Taps" in her head.

Back on the ship she sent a coded message through Alliance channels for Admiral Kahoku to contact her via secure channel. She wasn't feeling ready for personal contact, so she sent a directive for her dinner to be delivered to her cabin. A tray was left outside her door shortly afterward. A hour or so later, Cassidy's door chimed and she heard Dr Chakwas announce herself. She sighed, "OK, doctor, come in." Dr Chakwas came in and debriefed Cassidy about the mission then carefully did a quick psych assessment. "Well, Commander, I believe you are handling your emotional health issues adequately but for tonight I prescribe mental relaxation and distraction. I brought popcorn if you want to cue up some sappy romance movie." Cassidy considered for a moment. "OK, doctor. VI, cue up 'A Room with a View' the 2163 version with Merida Flaran and Harrison Chase." "Oo, I do like the views in that one, Commander, good choice." No contact came from Kahoku that evening.

Cassidy dreamed that night, herself as the lovely ingenue, anticipating the touch of her lover from behind. She felt a hand land softly under her left arm and then another hand on her right hip. She closed her eyes, feeling the left hand come up under her breast and gently stroke while the right hand moved onto the top of her thigh. She put her own right hand on his, but then stopped cold. There were not enough fingers there. Her dream self opened her eyes and looked up over her shoulder into the smoldering turian eyes of Garrus Vakarian. Cassidy awoke into the dimly lit cabin, exploring in wonderment what her dream revealed about her desires. She smiled as she thought of the blue painted former C-Sec agent, so earnest in his will to take down Saren.

She got up, intending to do some extranet searching about turians in general, when Joker buzzed her with the info that Admiral Kahoku was requesting a secure channel communication. "Put it here in my cabin, Joker. VI, audio only." Soon she heard Kahoku's anxious voice come on the line, "Commander Shepard, have you found my unit?" She tamped down on the emotions reawakening in her and replied evenly, "Admiral, I have bad news . . ."


	2. Chapter 2

The Heart Knows, Chapter 2

As the images of the Councilors faded away from the com station, Cassidy shook her head. Did the turian Councilor really think she would wantonly destroy Prothean ruins? She shook her head, and decided this was a battle not worth fighting. So, she went down to her cabin to start making prints for her mission board. She added pictures of the big 4-legged varieties of geth and the jumpy ones, too. She also made a print of the krogan they faced. He was probably just a mercenary, but there may be more to it, she figured. She took the pad of note paper and the new images into the conference room and set to work adding the updates to the board.

As she was working, Garrus and Liara came in. Cassidy paused, asking Liara, "Are you all right? Did you see Dr Chakwas?" Liara sat down with an energy bar in one hand and a steaming cup in the other. "Thank you, Commander. Yes, Dr Chakwas assures me that I'm going to be fine. Garrus said you have an impressively organized display of our mission status. Oh, I see you are working on adding to it. Is it OK if I look at it while you work?" Cassidy replied, "No problem. Feel free to ask questions as they occur to you."

As Cassidy finished the updates, Garrus answered most of Liara's questions and Cassidy filled in the rest. Finishing her cup, Liara pleaded a need for rest and left the room. Garrus turned back to the board,

"So, what's next, Commander?" Cassidy gathered up her notepad and put the marker back in the cupboard. "There's an anomalous signal in Argos Rho I want to check out, but the Citadel is on the path to there, so I think we'll swing by there so Liara can pick up anything she might need. She did have an awfully abrupt departure from her supplies, after all. Ready for lunch?" "Sounds good, Commander, I'll meet you in the mess."

Cassidy went up to the Galaxy Map and entered in a course for the Citadel. Joker passed on message from Nassana Dantius for a meeting on the Citadel, so Cassidy made a note for that on her omni-tool scheduler, then went down to the mess. She was finishing her banana pudding when the momentum dampeners kicked in after the second jump. Joker came on the intercom, urgency in his voice, "Commander, the VI has picked up on an asteroid headed for Terra Nova, fueled by fusion torches. ETA, 4 hours." Cassidy jumped up from the table, "Garrus, Wrex, meet me at the Mako in two minutes."

–

Cassidy took her dinner that evening alone in her cabin. The memory of Kate Bowman's voice haunted her, but she did not regret her decision to take Balak for arrest. He had shown himself to be determined to murder millions and her conscience would not let her allow him to leave. She wrote up her report and sent it. She pulled out her well-read paper copy of Isaac Asimov's Foundation series and curled up to read for a couple hours.

–

Coming back aboard the Normandy at the Citadel, Cassidy caught up with Liara and Tali on the stairway laden down with bags. She grabbed a couple bags from each, commenting, "Looks like you had a successful shop." Tali laughed, "Spending all our lives in these suits means that clothes shopping is quite a novelty for quarians. Liara gave me a cultural lesson and some fun girl time." They filed past Dr Chakwas who looked on curiously as they piled the bags on Liara's bunk. Cassidy pulled a top out of one bag and held it up toward Liara, "Good choice, its a nice color." She put it back in the bag, sighed "No rest for the wicked." Both Tali and Liara turned toward her, Liara with a puzzled look and Tali with a "who's wicked, then?" "Sorry, its an old human saying, basically meaning its time to get back to work." Cassidy left and headed up to the CIC, setting Argos Rho as the destination cluster.

–

That evening at dinner, Cassidy brought her tray to sit across from Garrus. Wrex was at the next table over telling some tale to Ashley and Dr Chakwas and some others. Garrus wanted to hear about the latest encounter with the geth. Cassidy harrumphed, "They obviously know we're on their trail and now they're using distress signals to try to ambush us." "Yes, well, the ambush didn't turn out too well for them, now did it?" he said. "That's true, but it just means they will stock their future ambushes with more firepower, so that's what we plan for. Tomorrow morning we'll see what has waylaid the small merchant vessel, the Majesty. Be it pirates or geth or both, we'll be ready." "I will be ready, Commander."

–

Xawin: Cassidy was packing away the datapad she had taken of Garoth's brother's body, when Garrus remarked "So, a geth ambush and a mercenary base. You sure you don't have any second sight, Commander?"

Cassidy sighed and said "It was just the worst option I mentioned. At least we weren't surprised, eh?" Garrus looked toward the door and tightened his flanges, "Have I mentioned that Palaven is a tropical planet, Commander?" "No, Garrus. What are you trying to say? That the cold bothers you?" "Well, yes, turians do not like the cold" Wrex contributed a harrumph. Cassidy turned a glance at Wrex then turned back to Garrus. "You should look on the extranet for dog-racing supplies. There's a famous dog-race on Earth that lasts days in the arctic cold, called the Iditarod. The racers use resistive low-level heating elements in their underclothing to keep from getting frostbite. Maybe you could adapt something like that into your wardrobe, for when, you know, we go to arctic environments." "I'll look into that. Thank you, Commander."

–

After lunch, Cassidy went to see what the Requisitions Officer had in stock. She had a foreboding feeling about Noveria, which is where they were currently heading. She sold off the outdated equipment, but didn't find anything interesting within her current budget. Maybe she could get some new licenses on Noveria. She looked over to where Garrus was working on something. She walked up and saw that he had disassembled an old datapad for its battery, hooked the battery to a thin metal mesh and was doing electical tests on the mesh. "So, it looks like you found an idea to pursue to ward off the cold?" "Yes, Commander, since Noveria is our next destination, I wanted to get a prototype ready to while we're there, since it is a very cold place. Please excuse me, Commander, I need to go find some additional materials." "Go ahead, Garrus."

Joker came on the intercom, "Noveria ETA 1 hour." Cassidy returned to the elevator and went to find Liara.

–

Cassidy looked hard at Mallene Calis, and said, "If I do this for you, I want copies of whatever you get. I have my own reasons to pry into Binary Helix. Deal?" "Yes, that's fine, Commander Shepard" Mallene replied. Liara added "I have sent you a link to which you can send the data." "I've got it." said Mallene.

When the distraction was done, Cassidy led her team out of the bar. In the elevator, Cassidy turned to Liara, "Let me know if you find anything of interest. Hopefully we'll get something about what Saren is using Binary Helix for." Liara looked in concentration at her omni-tool, "He's sending out a memo about his conversation with you, Commander." "We couldn't come covertly anyway, so that's no surprise that they'll be expecting us. We'll probably be seeing those asari commandos she mentioned. Let's go get Qu'in's data and then maybe you'll have some more to comb through."

–

" . . . See you around the galaxy, Commander. I owe you a beer." called Gianna Parasini as she hauled Anoleis out the door in cuffs. Cassidy looked thoughtfully at the garage pass in her hand, "Let's go into the Director's office and see if there's anything of interest from the Binary Helix bug." Cassidy, Garrus and Liara walked into the empty office and sat comfortably around the table there. Liara began tapping on her omni-tool. After a minute or so, Liara started commenting, "It looks like there is no communication available at all to Peak 15, not even to a VI there. The company brass on this side are starting get a bit frantic. There's a reference to some worry about an egg . . . they're afraid that the progeny from the hatched female are "history repeating itself" ? There's nothing else relevant to us here." "OK, let's go driving into the blizzard. How's your prototype working, Garrus?" "Haven't had a chance to test it in the cold, Commander, but I'll let you know." The trio headed out of the office toward the garage.

–

Peak 15: As the tram began moving toward Rift Station, Cassidy turned to Garrus, "So, had enough cold conditions now to make a preliminary assessment?" "Yes, Commander, the prototype is working well in its small area. I might try to make a whole suit when I have time. I think I might make a parallel zone control system so as to make some areas produce more warmth than others and have the heat adjustable in each zone. If I get it working well, maybe I could sell it to a manufacturer." "You think that parallel zone control is going to be affordable?" asked Cassidy. "It would just need a control program for the omni-tool and control chips for each zone and . . ." he replied, getting deeper in thought. "Think about it later, because here's Rift Station. Let's go."

–

Dr. Chakwas was waiting in the cargo bay with a cart filled with bandages and several plastic tubes. Once the bay door closed behind the Mako, she rolled the cart nearer and started squeezing goop from a tube onto two bandages. A quartet of soldiers followed her, carrying two stretchers. The Mako door opened and Garrus helped an unconscious Liara out, laying her on s stretcher. Dr Chakwas placed a goop-laden bandage onto the largest acid burn and directed that goop be squeezed onto every bandage on the cart. Garrus then appeared again, supporting the Commander who had an extremely strained look on her very pale face. Garrus helped her to sit down on the second stretcher. Dr Chakwas frowned, "Commander, the treatment stays in place much better if you are lying down. Kaidan, help her lie down and then start placing the bandages onto the burns, so the meds can start neutralizing the acid." Dr Chakwas continued working on Liara while Cassidy gingerly leaned back and allowed herself to be lowered her onto her back. He then took a goop-laden bandage and placed it on her neck. The relief at her neck was immediate and relaxed marginally. Then the sedatives laced in the goop took effect and she sank into blackness.

Dr Chakwas nodded as the Commander's eyes rolled up. She stood up and looked at Garrus quizzically, "No burns on you?" "I got lucky, Dr. We had to race through a forest of rachni, with acid flying everywhere. My shields were still up, barely, when we got to the elevator, but both of them had no shielding left and were covered in that green crap. Liara collapsed in the tram back and the Commander kind of blanked out but she walked to the Mako and got in on her own while I carried Liara." "Well that red tube on the lower shelf of the cart has goop for you if you need any. Take it with you." She orchestrated the move of both stretchers back to med-bay and Garrus took his red tube back to his bunk.

–

Cassidy came to under the sound of the dermal regenerator being used on her neck. She felt tingly all over, which meant that she had new skin regenerating all over. The regenerator ceased humming and she opened her eyes. Dr Chakwas looked pleased, "Ah, you are almost good as new, Commander. Take your time and sit up very slowly. You know the routine, no strenuous activity for 24 hours." Cassidy felt the warmth of someone else on her other side and she gingerly turned her head. Kaidan was there, "Glad to see you're OK, Commander. Again." He flashed a brief smile at her and offered to help her up. "Thanks, Kaidan, but I can manage." Cassidy brushed him back. She got herself to a sitting position. She saw Liara, over on the other bed, still out, but with shiny blue skin patches dotted all over. "Where's Garrus?" she asked. The VI replied "Garrus Vakarian is in the conference room." "OK, I'd like a dinner tray. I'll be in the conference room." She saw Liara coming around. "Crew meeting at 0800 tomorrow morning."

Kaidan followed her closely out of the med bay. Cassidy looked at him with irritation "I'm fine, Kaidan. I don't need a shadow." "Yes, Commander. Uh, sorry, Commander." he blushed and turned to head to his area. Cassidy headed up the stairs and headed into the conference room. Garrus was sitting at the table staring at the mission board, an empty tray in front of him. Cassidy came to sit across from him. "Commander, its good to see you up and about." "So, give me the run down of what happened from the time we hit the elevator. I was pain-blocking big time at that point and maybe missed some details." Garrus was still answering her questions when her tray arrived.

–

With the Council fading away again, Cassidy turned to face her mission board and sat down on the floor. Damned since she did let the rachni queen go and damned if she had not, she was sure (genocide, how could you, she could just hear the turian councilor's voice in her head). It was only mid-day but she was tired. Skin regen always seemed to really take a lot her energy. The door opened and Talitha came in and put a tray on the floor in front of her, then left. Garrus called from the doorway, "Want some lunch company, Commander?" "Sure, bring in your tray, Garrus. I'll dredge up enough energy to drag my tray and myself up to the table." And so she did.

Cassidy repeated the Councilors' comments on her Noveria report to him, verbatim. Garrus brought his flanges in tight and said, "I want to apologize to you for the turian councilor's enduring antagonizing attitude toward you. Sparatus is famous for this toward anyone below his station, so I don't think his comments are personally flavored, but what do I know." Cassidy held her hamburger in her hands, saying "I'm learning not to take him at face value. I imagine his children could never measure up." She took a bite and chewed while he carefully said, "You know, I think you are probably right. I think that might be very common in turian families, though, especially the further up the meritocracy one gets." "That happens with us too, fairly often, with parents who are successful in any arena – politics, sports, acting, science, invention, business, and so on."

Her omni-tool chimed and Dr Chakwas voice came on "Commander, I'd like to see you for a re-check after lunch, please." "OK, Dr, I'll be there in about 10 minutes"

–

Cassidy was back in her cabin, feeling a bit oily after Dr Chakwas had slathered an ointment on all her regenerating skin sites. She printed out images of a rachni and one of the asari commandos, then gathered up her notebook. Her mom came to mind, and she made a note on her omni-tool to contact her this afternoon while she was on down time. She opened her door, only to find Kaidan there with his hand extended toward the chime. "Hello Lieutenant. I'm heading to the conference room to update the mission board. Would you like to talk there, or do you need more privacy?" "Oh, uh, hello, Commander. I'll go with you to the conference room. That's fine."

They went upstairs and into the conference room. She laid her images and note pad on the table and went to the cupboard to get the marker. She came back and sat down and motioned Kaidan to sit across from her. "So, what's on your mind?" He picked up the image of the rachni and asked "Commander, you said they sing thoughts to each other and they can control dying asari – because the dying didn't have the energy to fight the mind control?" "OK, so you were listening at the crew briefing. What are your thoughts about that?" Cassidy wrote "mind control" on the page about the rachni. "And the matriarch, says the ship had influenced her to follow Saren slavishly, no that's the wrong word, um, fanatically? Anyway and she called it indoctrination?" "Yes. Go on." Cassidy wrote "indoctrination" on the page about the asari commandos.

Kaidan got up and started pacing. "We don't know anything about this kind of influence and how to defend against it. How can we tell if someone is no longer acting of their own volition?" Cassidy considered his question for a bit, then replied, "She said it was subtle at first, getting worse the longer they were on the ship. Right now, all we can do is look for behavior that is radically out of character." "I don't know if we can trust much, if anything, of what she said. How do we know she actually broke free of the indoctrination or if she was playing victim to send you on a wild goose chase?" "I guess, Lieutenant, that we need some further evidence."

Cassidy wrote "Acid attack" and "building an army?" on the rachni sheet and "more of Benezia's followers remain?" on the asari sheet. She got up to go put them on the board with the rest. She glanced over at Kaidan and said "Be ready for the mission tomorrow morning to go turn off the rogue VI on Luna." He looked at her with concern, "But your skin regen can't be fully complete, Shepard!" She stopped her taping and froze. "You are not my nurse, Lieutenant! Dismissed!" She went back to taping and ignored his evident struggle with himself before he said "Yes, Ma'am!" and stalked out of the room.

Cassidy closed the shutters on the board and walked over the com and sent a message to the Kilimanjaro asking for Hannah to contact her at her convenience, this afternoon or evening. She went back to put the marker away and gather up her notepad. Just as she was about to leave the room, Joker's voice came on, "Incoming call from the Kilimanjaro, Commander. The signature is XO Hannah Shepard." "I'll take the call in my cabin."

She walked quickly downstairs and into her cabin. She did not see Kaidan at his station on her way there. She wondered if he was the type to sulk. If he was, she hoped it didn't last too long. She opened her com panel, "Audio and Visual, please." she instructed the VI. Hannah's face swam onto the screen. "Hello dear. You called? What's going on?" "Hi Mom, just wanted to chat. I have the day free, so I thought I'd take the opportunity." "Looks like some skin regen you have going on there, dear. Anything you can tell me about that?" "No, I can't talk about it, but I'm fine. Oh, while I've got you, I ran into a Lieutenant Zabaleta during my last time at the Citadel." . . .


	3. Chapter 3

The Heart Knows - Chapter 3

Luna: Cassidy stopped the Mako on the way toward the Alliance Training Ground. She looked up at the bright blue orb hanging large in the sky, "I never seem to get used to this view. Its still breathtakingly beautiful to me." "I feel exactly the same way," murmured Ashley. "Hmm, there aren't any hurricanes in view today, so that's a good thing." said Kaidan. Cassidy turned her attention back to the lunar landscape and put the Mako back into motion.

–

Cassidy was packing her armor into her locker when Joker annouced a call from Admiral Hackett. "I'll take it in my cabin." She closed up the locker and jogged back to cabin. "Yes, Admiral?" "Commander, I have a mayday call from a Lt Durand out in the Styx Theta cluster. She reports unidentified hostile life forms. Since you're the only one to have successfully fought the rachni these days, I'd like you to go out and see if these are indeed rachni and take care of the situation. I'll have a ship on the way to evacuate Lt Durand's unit." "I'll head straight there, Admiral" "Thank you, Commander. Hackett out." She ran up the stairs to the CIC and set the destination for Styx Theta.

–

Cassidy was in front of her mission board, updating the rachni page, while the Normandy was traveling back from Nepmos to the mass relay. She was absentmindedly eating bits of her dessert (chocolate covered raisins), when Garrus came in. "I thought I might find you here, Commander." "Hey, Garrus, pull up a chair. What's on your mind?" "Apparently, Silas Crosby has cobbled together what he called a 'ping-pong' table. I watched a couple of games and I think I have the idea. So, I'm wondering if you'd like to come down for a game, maybe work off a little stress?" "That sounds like fun. Sure, I'll play a game or two." She cleared up her work and they headed down to the cargo bay.

She won 2 out of 3 games, but he seemed to picking up the strategies quickly and that third game had gone on and on before she could get two points ahead of him. She thanked him for the games and placed her paddle on the table for the next player. She headed back up to her cabin to grab some sleep.

Cassidy dreamed. She was being hunted. The hunter wanted her alive, so he was setting traps, using nets and firing tranquilizer darts. She looked over the edge of the cliff she had just climbed to hear if he was following. It was a moonless night, so it was very dark. She didn't hear anything, so she crept quietly toward where she thought was a forest. If she could get into a tree, she might be able to sleep for a bit. Then the dream scene shifted. She was in a cane shack on a beach with a big full silver moon shining out on the calm water. She felt a warmth at her back and she turned around and smiled up into Garrus' intense gaze. She took a step to close the small distance between them. The dream shifted back to moonless dark. She was in a tree, the hunter on the ground somewhere nearby. Menace in his tone, he called out "Cassidy, I want you for myself forever and always." It was the voice of Kaidan Alenko.

–

Cassidy ran onto the Normandy and looked back to see Garrus right behind her and Wrex pulling the door closed. "We're in, Joker! That ship's about to blow" "Away and shields up, Commander."

She took her helmet off and remarked "Well that was better than the hot labs, anyway." Wrex said "At least this time I got to take out some rachni. Can't let Garrus have all the fun." "If we find any more, Wrex, I'll let you wade right in" replied Garrus.

Still in her armor, Cassidy paused at the CIC. Consulting her omni-tool, she looked up Admiral Kahoku's last message. She stepped and selected the Voyager cluster as their destination for this afternoon. She went back downstairs to her cabin. All she wanted at the moment was a shower. Kaidan called to her as she walked by "Glad to see you're OK, Commander."

–

Cassidy set up a guard detail to secure the site where she had found Admiral Kahoku's body. When the requested units from the Fifth Fleet arrived to take over, she would pull her people out and continue. But that wouldn't be until the next morning. She decided to take her dinner in the conference room and add more to her mission board. She taped an image of one of the Cerberus scientists up and noted the connection to the rachni and to the Binary Helix corporation. "Was Cerberus collaborating with Binary Helix or was it just a sales transaction?" she said to herself.

Her tray arrived and Garrus, Liara and Tali came in just after, each laden with their own dinner. Cassidy joined them at the table. They had a convivial conversation about their favorite foods (Cassidy's was barbecued ribs), what those foods were made of and that segued into farming practices of each of their cultures. Then the conversation turned to religious dietary restrictions. Finally there was nothing but crumbs on the trays. Cassidy told them she needed to finish her update on the board. She showed them the image of the green humanoid things.

"Do either of you, Tali or Liara, have any clue what those are?" Cassidy asked. She went to put the image on the board. The note for them said only "found in Cerberus research lab". Neither Tali nor Liara had any ideas on the subject. Cassidy pointed at the rachni, "Admiral Kahoku said that Cerberus was doing illegal genetics research with the goal of making a superior soldier. Binary Helix does genetics. They brought back the rachni and Cerberus had rachni. I think Cerberus uses Binary Helix as a front company. And Saren is a major investor of Binary Helix. I wonder how closely Cerberus and Saren are linked?"

Cassidy looked to Liara, "Are you still getting anything from Mallene Callis' spyware?" "No, Commander. Mallene's searches tripped up a security flag and I scrubbed the whole account so nothing could be traced." "Its just 'Shepard' to you all, please. How much were you able to collect before that?" "There's quite a bit about various sales accounts, I could go through those and see if any might hint at connections to Cerberus." "Let me know if you find anything. I'm calling it a night. See you tomorrow, hopefully Hackett's units will be here earlier rather than later. Good night."

–

Nepheron: Cassidy hoped the files she had managed to copy from the Cerberus server contained something to further her investigation. It would take time for them to be decoded, so they weren't going to help anytime soon, anyhow. So, she shrugged it off and led Garrus and Wrex back out to the Mako.

The Fifth Fleet unit had arrived just after breakfast, and Hackett had sent her out to the Amazon system to defuse a nuke. That Haliat was a dangerous idiot, but a dead idiot now.

"Hey, Garrus, want to go catch a mad geneticist tonight?" "Yes, Shepard, I'd like that, thank you."

–

Cassidy walked back onto the Normandy with Garrus and Ashley behind. "I'm heading for my cabin. We can add Saleon's files to list of things that need decryption and analysis. Those gray things might have a connection to the green ones. Hopefully the data crunchers can find something. Good night, Garrus, Ashley" She noticed Kaidan was still there at his station. She stopped, "What are you still doing up, Kaidan?" "Just, uh, couldn't relax until the, uh, mission was done." "I see. Good night, Kaidan." His eyes perked up a bit. "Good night, Ma'am"

She dreamed again, being hunted again. This time she was in a drifting abandoned ship. She looked out over the cargo area from the top of a ventilation duct. A green body and a grey body were standing near the wall, face to face, making geth noises each other. A beam of light slowly surveyed the room below her. She tried to switch to the moonlit beach in her mind. Nothing. She looked around for a way out, but seemed to be boxed in. "You can't hide from me, Cassidy" Kaidan's voice sounded amused in her helmet.


	4. Chapter 4

The Heart Knows - Chapter 4

In the morning, Cassidy met Pressly for their standard working breakfast. "The rations are starting to get a bit repetitive, Commander. We could use a resupply stop." "Hmm, I think that's the straw that broke the camel's back, Pressly. We'll be in the Argos Rho cluster this morning, and then we'll head for the Citadel. How's that?"

"Excellent, Commander, I'll give the crew a few hours leave once we get there."

–

Citadel: Cassidy met with Captain Anderson in Udina's office. She handed him an OSD with the files from Cerberus and Saleon. She projected a picture of her mission board and went over the connections she saw between all the images. "Wow, Shepard, that's some impressive work you've got there. I'll follow up on as much of it as I can. But, now that you're here, I've got some news for you, personally."

Cassidy looked quizzically into his face. "Its not about my mom, is it, Anderson?" "No, no. She's fine. Its about Akuze. We have found that there was a research project going on there, at the same time your unit was there. We identified the five scientists involved. Four of them are dead. If you want, I'll send the coordinates of the fifth, a Dr Wayne, to the Normandy. We'll let you handle this however you want, Shepard."

Cassidy stared off into space. She saw the empty settlement as her unit had found it. She felt the ground shake. Then she blinked deliberately, and looked back at Anderson. "Yes, I want to talk to this Dr Wayne."

Anderson put a cup of hot cocoa in front of her and sat back in his seat across from her, a steaming cup of coffee in his hand. "There's also a matter that could be of some embarrassment to the Alliance if the Council found out. We've found a old probe from the Contact War . . . "

–

Cassidy walked out of the embassy not really looking where she was going. "Shepard, are you okay?" A hand came under her right elbow and led her over to some empty seats. She looked up and said "Why are you here, Kaidan?" "You were off in space there, I didn't think it would be wise to wander off into the rest of the embassy like that. What's got your mind spinning?" "Just some missions I got from Anderson, Kaidan. Now, I need to go so I won't be late." "Hot date?" Kaidan laughed nervously. "You're not my chaperone, either, Lieutenant" and Cassidy stood up very purposefully and walked out through the waiting area to the rapid transit.

At the BBQ, Cassidy saw Garrus and Wrex waiting outside. The BBQ was a new restaurant in Zakera Ward, promising "Classic Texas-style barbecue, levo and dextro available." Cassidy came up to them, "Is this everybody?" "I think everybody else are in the various clubs, Shepard. So, yes, three it is." Wrex gave a look from one to the other, "I've actually got a craving for that Fishdog Food Factory. You two have fun." He left the line and walked off into the ward. "OK, then, I guess two it is now. You still up to try this, Garrus?" "Oh yes, I've been looking forward to learning if smoke actually does make a good flavoring."

–

Kaidan and Cassidy walked back onto the Normandy with Ashley closing the hatch behind them. Kaidan said, "I'm glad that Burns finally got the picture, Shepard. Its too bad that it took a kidnapping for it to happen." "I'm with you, Ashley. Damn politicians." Cassidy muttered. "You know it, Shepard."said Ashley. She let them go on sternward, while she went into the cockpit. "Joker, get us back to the Kepler Verge, Newton system." "Punching in Kepler Verge. OK, Commander. Um, just curious, why aren't you using the Galaxy Map?" "This one is different and I think I will be rather less than happy when I get back, so I just don't want it to be business as usual, eh?" "Yea, OK, Shepard, I hear ya."

–

The guards from the Fifth Fleet cruiser escorted Dr. Wayne and Toombs off the Normandy and onto their own ship. Cassidy stood watching until she heard the hatch close and the docking tube disengage. She wondered at her own emotional state. She was quite feeling anything about all this. Well that just meant that it would come out in her dreams, maybe.

She called for her dinner tray to be delivered to her cabin. She walked into the cockpit. "Joker. When we get to Feros tomorrow morning, we'll need to go in black. There may be geth watching the relay." "Understood, Commander."

She was almost to her cabin when she noticed Dr Chakwas there with two dinner trays on a cart. "I hope you don't mind me joining you for dinner this evening, Commander." "Maybe we should start making these sessions into pajama parties, eh?" Cassidy smiled a little and opened the door. "Come on in, doctor."

–

Cassidy did indeed dream that night. It began rather predictably with her watching Toombs get pulled under. But there was no sound. She didn't feel the shock and anxiety. Her viewpoint was above the scene and she saw herself running and dodging back to the landing pad. She looked up to a nearby hill. Were the scientists up there, watching with scopes? The scene faded to not quite darkness. She heard footsteps below her. She wobbled and grabbed for a branch, scraping her hand on the rough bark, but the branch came off the tree. She fell hard onto her butt. She quickly jumped back onto her feet, still holding the branch, listening. The footsteps came a couple steps closer, then stopped. "You're hurt, Cassidy, I can tell. Let me help you." said Kaidan, with mocking concern in his voice. She waved the branch as she spun around and jumped back from him. He raised up his tranq gun and conspicuously unhinged it and began to load it. She turned and ran. His laughter dogged her heels.

–

The councilors' images were fading away once more. At least Sparatus hadn't found anything more critical than "go to any lengths to save a human colony". Yeesh, but she was having a tough time concentrating, must be the Cipher. She went down to the mess to find something to eat.

Monica and Abishek were manning the galley. Abishek saw her approach, "Commander! Sit, sit! I will bring you all your favorites!" Cassidy wondered what Abishek knew about her 'favorites'. Shortly he came with a tray, "Here is grilled cheese, tomato basil soup, collard greens, barbecue beans, sweet iced tea, and cherry fruit-studded jello with whipped cream." Cassidy was impressed. She looked up at Abishek and said "What inspired this, Pakti?" Abishek looked back at Monica and Monica piped up "Dr Chakwas said she asked your mom about your favorites. She asked us to make these things tonight, Commander" Cassidy smiled, "Thank you both for your efforts." and she dug in.

Garrus and Tali came in and collected their dinners. They came and sat by Cassidy. Garrus' eyes studied her face, "Your color is returning, Shepard. Sustenance must be helping." Cassidy nodded, her mouth full. Tali inquired about the items on Cassidy's tray. Cassidy started telling them about each one and another food conversation was underway.

–

Returning from beating Ashley 3 out of 5 at ping pong, Cassidy approached her cabin. Kaidan asked "Shepard, do you have a minute?" "OK, Kaidan, what's up?" "I'm just hoping to clear up some confusion. I've been trying to go off signals, but the signals are inconsistant. Sometimes I get the impression you would like to get more personal and others it seems you want to keep your distance. What's going on?" Cassidy thought for a bit, trying to understand his point of view. She said, "Kaidan, you have been helpful, protective, gallant and yet thoroughly irritating. Its all like squabbling siblings. You are the brother my parents never gave me, Kaidan."

Kaidan looked crestfallen, "I see. um, Thanks for clearing that up for me, Shepard." "Good night, Kaidan"

Her dreams that night began disjointed and fuzzy. Then she was in a theater. Flashes of unfamiliar landscapes, unfamiliar aliens, unfamiliar voices, unfamiliar writing and more went by like a documentary movie. A warm hand came to rest on her shoulder. Garrus' comforting voice sounded close behind her, "I've always got your back, Cassidy." She stepped backward and sank down on a couch into his embrace, all the while watching the screen.


	5. Chapter 5

The Heart Knows - Chapter 5

Cassidy got out of the Mako saying, "Wrex, even if they are offworld vermin on Tuchanka, they are the residents here. Sorry, you can't hunt them for food." "I'll just get some more frozen pyjak from Fishdog Foods. Won't be as good as fresh, though." Cassidy just shook her head and went to change out of her armor, setting the Galaxy Map to the Maroon Sea cluster on her way.

She printed out an image of the Thorian to put next to green things, the colonists called them creepers, which obviously were created by the Thorian. She wondered how Cerberus had gotten some of them. She went to her mission board to update it. As she was making notes about this new form of mind control, the door opened and Garrus, Liara and Kaidan came in. Liara was pushing a cart with several lunch trays on it. Garrus said "We figured you would be here and the galley detail had not heard from you, so we though we'd bring you your lunch." Cassidy looked over her shoulder, "Thanks, guys." She put her marker down and went to the table.

Cassidy said, "I was just thinking that Cerberus had creepers, and Cerberus ordered samples from ExoGeni to be delivered to the Matano system. So, ExoGeni might be another front company for Cerberus." "That seems reasonable" said Liara. Kaidan chimed in, "There was another glowing orb, too. But this time the geth were still there for you to see them kneeling in front of it. A way to extend mind control from the ship – like a relay?" "Yes, they may have been receiving commandments from Saren, the 'prophet' as they regard him." answered Garrus.

"Well, when we get to the Matano system, will be find that the samples are creepers or something else?" asked Cassidy. "Whatever the samples are, there's apparently no antidote, according to the entry you found." replied Liara.

–

Chaska: Cassidy was downloading files. She felt frustrated. "Husks? Dragon Teeth? Did the geth come here looking for the samples and just make the husks while they were here anyway, like they did on Eden Prime? I sure hope these Cerberus files fill in some of the blanks here."

–

That night, her dreams returned to the theater. The images of alien stuff were still going by on-screen. She was tucked under Garrus' left arm as she leaned into him on the couch. His body was very warm against hers. His right hand sought out her right hand and held it gently. His left hand began combing through her short curls. She let this go on for awhile until she felt the heat rising in her. She got up and stepped up on the couch, swinging a leg around so the she was seated above and behind him, his crest coming over the top of her left thigh. She rested her right hand along his neck and with her left she stroked along his crest. "Cassidy" he breathed.

The side door of the theater opened and a geth destroyer walked in, arm in arm with a krogan. The dream faded to black.

–

Cassidy was the last to climb out of the Mako in the cargo bay. Ashley said "Those biotics weren't anything more than terrorists, Shepard. They weren't doing you and Kaidan and any other human biotics any favors by using the researchers as shields." Tali replied, "I'm pleased that we were able to avoid harming any of the researchers. They were so loopy." Cassidy closed the Mako and said "Good job down there, Ashley, Tali. I'll join you in the mess for lunch in a bit."

She checked her messages once she had put her armor away. One was from Admiral Hackett, saying that he had sent a investigative team out to a biotic commune, to which the kidnapper biotics had been linked. He asked her to go out since the team did not report back. There was also attached an extensive file on a Major Kyle, who was heading the commune.

There went her afternoon.

–

Cassidy dreams that night were back in the theater. The alien images were still scrolling. She was standing alone behind the couch, no sign of Garrus. She looked around, saw the seats were full – there was Matriarch Benezia, Shiala, the rachni queen was standing in the back with a bag of popcorn, quite a few geth, some krogan here and there, Rafael Vargas, husks and creepers were scattered about. She noticed a red spotting laser on come to rest on an asari commando next to her. She turned around to find one of the big geth tanks up near the screen, the theater started flashing red . . .

She awoke to her com panel making her cabin flash red and beeping. "Priority Com Request from Admiral Hackett" it said when she managed to reach over and hit the receive button. "Commander Cassidy Shepard accepting Priority Com Request." she croaked. "Connecting . . ." "Commander, we just received intel leading us to believe the geth are massing in the Armstrong Cluster. We need you to go in and report on the situation, deal with it if you can. The mass relay is being watched, so you'll need to jump black. Saren might have something building up there." "Heading to the Armstrong Cluster ASAP, Admiral." "Good luck, Commander. Hackett out"

"Joker, get up and get to cockpit. Navigation: Set destination: Armstrong Cluster. Jumping black." "Getting up, Commander" came Joker's voice. "Course laid in, Commander. ETA 40 minutes" came Helen Lowe's voice.

–

Solcrum: Tali stood still, listenening to the quarian a cappella aria. After the last note faded away, Tali said, "Doesn't that seem like sentimentality, Shepard. To have such a stirring lament play. It indicates possible emotional development in the geth." "Let's see if they've left anything for us to download." said Cassidy.

In the back room, Tali said "I'll dowload what I can and then copy it to the Normandy for you, Shepard" "How much is there?" "Looks like enough that we'll be decades in deciphering it. I think this will be my Pilgrimage gift." "That's worthy of your father's daughter?" teased Cassidy. Tali laughed a little, "Yes, Shepard, I think so. Certainly better than a derelict ship or five – however many we've cleared out." "It has been a few, hasn't it."

–

Cassidy was once again staring at her mission board. Armstrong had been a staging ground. Lots of geth, but no Saren. It was late, but she was resisting sleep. Dr Chakwas came in. "How are you feeling, Shepard?" "Hello, doctor. Thanks for getting the galley to make my favorites the other day. Nothing quite like comfort food, eh?" "Yes, well, I thought it would be exactly that, comforting, and everyone has days when they need comfort. But you are dodging the question." "My mind is racing, still taking in the Cipher I guess. Its hard to sleep soundly." "Well, I don't recommend sedatives, but why don't we go down to the galley and get some hot chocolate." "All right, that sounds comforting and rest inducing. Ok doctor, lead the way."

It seemed to work. She slept soundly and whatever dreams she had weren't memorable.

–

Cassidy was having french toast with blueberry sauce, while Pressly was having his usual cereal. "I need to get the Cerberus and geth files back to Anderson. So, we'll be making a quick trip back to the Citadel this morning. Just a few hours there, so they shouldn't get their hopes up." "Understood, Shepard. I'll take the opportunity to restock some few items we're low on."

–

Cassidy was in the Presidium Emporium, waiting while Garrus was getting his new Phantom X armor fitted. Wrex was already done and fidgety, in his new Mercenary X. Her omni-tool lit up with a com request. She opened it up and Anderson's face popped up. "Shepard, just though you'd like to know that the Kilimanjaro is docking." "Thanks, Anderson."

She opened up a new com window, "Kilimanjaro, XO Hannah Shepard" and sent the com request. Garrus came out of the fitting room looking shiny and dangerous. Cassidy teased him "It goes so well with your eyes." "Can't go around looking too functional, like Wrex there." "Mine just needs to go with the blood of my enemies." retorted Wrex.

Her com beeped. She opened the window and Hannah's face appeared. "Hi Mom. I'm on the Citadel. Wanna grab lunch?" "Cassidy, what wonderful serendipity! Just a moment, dear . . . Yes, I can meet you in a half hour. Where do you want to meet?" "How about Sultan's on Zakera Ward?" "Sounds good. See you there."

Cassidy turned to Garrus and Wrex, "I'll see you both back on the ship at 13:00" "Yes, Shepard" said Garrus and they both headed for the rapid transit.

Hannah spotted Cassidy waiting outside Sultan's. Hannah came up and wrapped Cassidy in a big hug "Oh, I have missed you!" They went inside and were shown to a table. Hannah scanned Cassidy's neck, "Your doctor did a very nice job with the dermal regeneration." "Yes, Dr Chakwas is very skilled and very considerate. I hear she contacted you about my favorite foods." "Oh, Karen and I were in academy together, and it was nice to chat with her, and yes she asked all about your childhood favorites."

Cassidy ordered lamb skewers with hummus and Hannah had falafel patties with a fig paste. They chatted easily about the various personalities on their ships. They had nearly cleaned their plates, when Cassidy's omni-tool beeped. It was a text message from the Salarian councilor, asking her to meet him at their embassy immediately. Cassidy said "I'm sorry to cut this short, but I have to go. I love you and I hope we can do this again soon. She finished her plate in two big bites and washed it down with her lemonade. She leaned over and kissed her mom on the cheek. "Love you" and she left to back to the embassies.

In the Salarian Embassy, she was shown immediately into the Councilor's office. He directed her to a chair near the blank wall, then put up a recording, showing the face of a salarian soldier. "Tapped into communications, heard references to Saren." The Councilor's voice came on "Get in and investigate. Do not engage. Standard report intervals." "Understood, Councilor." Valern stopped the playback.

"That is Major Kirrahe. He is on the planet Virmire in the Sentry Omega cluster, Hoc system. We received a message at the first interval. It was just static, but it carried a "mission critical" code in the metadata of the message. I believe it is directly relevant to your mission to go there. If you can extract our team, without compromising the mission, of course, we would be grateful." "This may be the break we need, Councilor. I'll head straight there." "Good luck, Commander." Valern walked her to the door.

–

Cassidy stood at attention in front of the images of the Councilors, holding back her anger and her grief. "If you truly believe that the Reapers are the real threat, the you have the authority to act as you see fit." "I will, Councilors." and she hit the disconnect.

Then she slumped down and sat on the floor, her head in her hands. The choice to save Ashley was also the choice to save the salarians, since they were together on the AA tower. Kaidan was overwhelmed and alone, but had done his job in activating the bomb. She realized then that her statement to him about him being a brother really felt right, she was going to miss him, even his irritating overprotective tendencies. She directed the VI to play 'Taps', softly. She let a tear fall on the last note.

Cassidy had the authority to act as she saw fit. How much of a risk would she be taking if she tried to go to Ilos alone? Probably too much of one since she would have to get in visual range in order to get down to the planet. No, she needed the other ships to provide a distraction.

The door opened and she heard footsteps. It was Liara and Garrus. Liara said, "Shepard, are you alright?" Garrus said "Joker says that Udina wants us back at the Citadel, Shepard. Apperantly they are forming a fleet."

Cassidy wiped her face on her sleeve, then accepted Garrus' proffered hand up. "I'll be okay, Liara. Thanks, Garrus. Let's go get our fleet."

–

Cassidy was back in front of her mission board, seething. The door opened behind her, but she didn't notice. She shouted "They won't send a fleet! They won't send me alone! My style is not deft?! Udina locked me out! AAARGH!" "Shepard, it looks to me like you could use a punching bag. We could spar, if you like." Cassidy got hold of herself and turned to face him. "Well, that might help, yes. Let's push that table up into the wall and there should be just enough room."

She went on the offensive and dredging up old training techniques of taking down turians, she threw a punch which he blocked then prepped a cross, but then swept a kick around to take him down at the knees. He did go down but rolled and popped back up directly into a punch high which she blocked and a cross kick, which she blocked then used as leverage to kick high which he barely ducked.

Joker's voice came over the com, "Commander? Anderson just sent a message to you directly, but you didn't answer so he asked me to page you. He wants you to meet him in that club / casino, Flux." "Thanks, Joker."

Cassidy nodded to Garrus, "Thanks, that's starting to clear my head." "My pleasure, Shepard. You, unsurprisingly, are quite skilled." "Get ready, I want you with me when we go meet Anderson."

–

They were waiting for the lockout to be removed. Joker remarked, "The Hoc system is about 4 hours away from the mass relay, Shepard. You'll have time for a nap, its been a long day." "What about you, Joker?" "I'm not out taking down geth and krogan, throwing biotic energy around. I'll grab some caffeine and be just fine."

The controls returned to life. The clamps released. Joker backed the ship out of the dock and headed for the mass relay. "Go get some rest, Shepard. I'll wake you about 30 minutes out from Ilos." "Alright, I'm going."

Cassidy slept, because she was exhausted, physically and emotionally. She dreamed. She was back in the theater. The screen was blank, the seats were empty, and only the exit signs were lit. She heard a door open and in walked Garrus. He extended his hand toward her, "Come on Cassidy, let's get out of here before anybody else comes back." She took his hand and he led her to the back, through a door she hadn't noticed before. They went up a flight of stairs and turned right down a long hallway. The hallway was lined with doors, each labeled with various things. The first one she saw was "Balloon Ride over Grand Canyon", the next "On Set of Fleet and Flotilla", then "Where the Wild Things Are, Chapter 3" .

They went by several more doors until Garrus said, "Here we are." It said "Tropical Moonlit Beach". Cassidy smiled and followed him through the door.

–

She awoke to the com playing "Semper Fidelis". She felt relaxed and ready. She got into her armor and headed to the cockpit.

–

Citadel: Saren had shot himself in the head. Cassidy went to the control panel and inserted Vigil's control program. She heard the distress call of the Destiny Ascension and Joker's offer to lead the Arcturus Fleet in to save it. Wrex's suggestion to hold the fleet back to concentrate on Sovereign didn't make sense to her. If they didn't take out the geth ships now, the geth would just come in behind them when they went in on Sovereign. No, better to take the geth ships out now and preserve the Destiny Ascension for the Reaper Invasion yet to come. "Opening the arms now. Save the Destiny Ascension."

–

Cassidy was in the Alliances' medical ward on the Presidium. Her left wrist was in a splint, while the bone regen did its thing. The curtain around her parted momentarily as the doctor came in with a machine on a cart. He placed her splinted wrist gently into the center of the machine, then turned it on. "I'm sorry for the delay, Commander, we are swamped. Even so, the press are trying their darndest to get in here. We have labeled your file as Ensign Jones. Good thing, too, I caught somebody we didn't recognize scanning the files." The machine beeped and its hum stopped. The doctor continued, "I have placed you on Medical Leave for 24 hours. Don't use the wrist during that time. Here's a couple of pain blockers, use one if you start wondering if you should use one. Let me show you the employee entrance." "Thank you, doctor."

She was in a back alley. She turned to the right and went through a door that opened onto a commercial concourse. She saw a storefront selling sandwiches, but decided eating a sandwich with one hand would be more complicated than she wanted to deal with. She looked the other way and saw a sushi grill. She got a salmon roll to go. Tucking her back under her left arm, she located the transit stand. She took the car and headed to the Normandy's dock.

She actively ignored Ms Al-Jilani as she stepped into the elevator and back to her ship. When she stepped onboard, there was an eruption of cheers and applause and she was swept down to the galley where there were laid out all sorts of finger foods and cups of punch. A party was underway. She worked her way over to the galley. Joker was there, sitting on a stool. He took the bag of sushi from her. "Let me slice this up for you, Shepard." "Have you heard anything about Garrus and Wrex?" "Garrus is in the turian medical ward, not sure when he'll be released. Wrex said he had a date with a bottle of ryncol at some krogan bar."

Joker glanced at her splinted wrist. "So, how are you?" "Broken wrist when I tripped over a decorative rock dodging a giant piece of Sovereign you sent my way." "Well, sorry, we couldn't aim the debris. It took all we had just to breach its hull, after that there were so many pieces of it going every which way."

She raised her voice, "Voices down, please. I am on Medical Leave for the next 24, so you all have shore leave until 0600 tomorrow." Several of the crew applauded. Joker placed the sliced salmon roll in front of her and then handed her a cup of punch. She ate while letting the conversations of the crew wash over her. Dr Chakwas appeared at her elbow. "Shepard, I've been on the com with your mom. She would like you to call." "Thanks, doctor, I'll head up to my cabin and call her."

–

"No, mom, I don't know what's planned. I think they're still assessing the damage, recovering the wounded and dead, that sort of stuff." "Well, I'm sorry I can't stick around. You take care of yourself. I'll talk to you later. I love you." "Love you, too, Mom. Bye"

Cassidy carefully removed her armor and undersuit. She took a long hot shower, then popped one of the pain blockers. She went to bed where she intended to stay for a good long time. She slept, dreamlessly.

–

Udina scheduled the meeting with the Council for 0800 just after her medical leave was up. She recommended Captain Anderson for the new human council seat. After she left, she headed for the embassy to wait for Anderson so they could discuss their short term goals.


	6. Chapter 6

The Heart Knows - Chapter 6

Anderson walked into the embassy office and spotted Cassidy sitting at the table. She got up, "Let me take you for some saki. I know a sushi place that's still serving." "Sounds good, Shepard. I feel a little overwhelmed at the moment."

They walked down together, passing Udina with a monster scowl on his face. They climbed in a rapid transit cab and took it to the sushi restaurant. "So, what's Udina going to do once you become Councilor?" "We still need to work that out with him, but I think he will stay on as Councilor's Adviser or something like that."

They both ordered the sampler box lunch, and one bottle of saki. The saki came with the miso soup. Cassidy poured each of them a thumbful. Cassidy raised her cup "Here's to our recent victory and to all those who lost a loved one that we might achieve it." "Hear, hear". They drank.

Cassidy began, "My initial thoughts are to take Liara out to whatever Prothean ruins she deems most worthy of our attention. If we encounter geth, we'll take them out." Anderson replied, "That sounds like a good plan. I'm guessing though, based on what the Turian and Salarian councilors were saying, is that they'll probably keep you busy hunting any remaining geth. I'll see if I can get Prothean archeology time in there."

Their orders came. They turned to more general topics while they ate.

–

Cassidy pulled back the curtain and saw Garrus in a reclining chair, his right knee in a brace. She smiled at him and said "So, how much longer are they going to keep you?" "I think my last treatment will be in the next hour or so then they said I'd be on Medical Leave for a week for physical therapy to strengthen the newly repaired ligaments." "What are your plans after that? Want to go geth hunting with us?" "I will take the next week and think about it for sure, but I think I'll go ahead with the Spectre training course. If I make it, then maybe we can do some work together." "OK. I'll look you up when we get back from the Citadel from time to time. Keep in touch, Garrus. I'm glad you came helped me on my first Spectre mission." "It was my pleasure, Shepard, to work with you to take down Saren and Sovereign." She shook hands with him and left.

Once out in the hall, she pulled up her com on her omni-tool and rang Wrex. He answered, "Shepard? I was just about to call you." "Alright then, Wrex, what's on your mind?" "If you're heading out soon, would you drop me at Tuchanka? I've got some plans I want to put in motion with my clan." "OK, sure, Wrex. That answers my question as well. I'll see you back on the ship."

Her message indicator was blinking. She pulled it up. It was from the Council, directing her to go geth hunting.

So, she did. Until the Normandy was blown apart and Cassidy died.

They held memorial services on the Citadel, Earth, Eden Prime, Feros and on the Kilimanjaro. Hannah took some bereavement leave, then was transferred to her own command on the Orizaba.

Garrus found that he had lost much more than a colleague and he lost interest in his training and after a couple months, he gave it up altogether. A few weeks later he found himself on Omega.

Dr Chakwas took a post on Mars. Ashley threw herself into her assignments and was soon promoted.

Tali went back to the flotilla.

Liara started selling info. With her first major sale, she moved to an office on Illium where she became a full-fledged information broker.

Cassidy was collected by a Shadow Broker team, to be sold to the Collectors. Cerberus recruited Feron and Liara to steal Cassidy before the sale could be finalized. Cassidy was taken to a medical lab on a Cerberus space station. Project Lazarus was underway.


	7. Chapter 7

The Heart Knows – Chapter 7

Cassidy was floating in blackness. It was restful, certainly better than the burning sensations she remembered as she had hurtled through the atmosphere with pieces of the Normandy. She saw a light ahead and as she tried to focus on it, it got larger and larger. Then she was walking toward it and soon she was at the back of the theater and the light was on the screen. There was nobody else in the theater.

She walked all around the seats, but didn't see anybody. She looked for the door at the back that she and Garrus had gone through. She found it but it was locked. She tried to open a hack program on her omni-tool, but she did not have her omni-tool. She took a closer look at the lock on the door and decided that a hack wouldn't have helped anyway. The lock looked like one of the old manual ones. She went back to the seats to see if she could find anything to use as a pick.

There at the back, she found popcorn where the rachni queen had been. She went to the end of one row and started walking down it. She found gum under the seats, a couple sticky JuJu Bees, and a clear wrapper. The light on the screen changed. She looked up at it, sitting in a seat. Fuzzy shapes with blinking lights appeared. "She's waking up." "Increase the sedative. I told you your numbers were off." The screen faded to black and the house lights came on.

She got up and decided to try the couch. She tried to pull the cushions up, but they were secured. She carefully put her hand down behind the cushions. She pulled up a credit chit, a tube of Chapstick, a stinky sock, a young girl's necklace (I love dance) and a bumper sticker (biotics do it energetically). She turned and sat on the couch. Old, old music started to play, "Patience" by Guns 'N Roses.

–

Time after time she came back to the theater, kept searching but found nobody and no way out until . . .

"Shepard, wake up! This facility is under attack."

–

On Freedom's Progress, Cassidy pretty much ran on auto-pilot. Sight, lift, shoot, repeat. But then the door opened on the quarians. There was Tali. She had gotten a new suit. A spark of hope lodged in her chest. She took a little more interest in the battles, particularly on the heavy mech.

Veetor's security footage was a stroke of luck. Now she had a new image to put on a new mission board.

But Tali had moved on, had an important mission of her own for the fleet. She couldn't come. The spark in her chest went dark.

Cerberus. Cassidy still couldn't wrap her head around this. Everything felt a bit surreal. Except the Reaper threat, of course, that was unfortunately normal. "We found a pilot you might like." "Hey Commander, just like old times, eh?" The sight of Joker gave her an anchor. She could maybe start to ground herself.

–

On board the SR2, Cassidy allowed Kelly Chambers escort her on a tour of the ship. Cassidy let the names wash over her for the time being. Each unfamiliar face in black and white grayed out her view of the world. When she got to the med bay, the sight of Dr Chakwas was a breath of fresh air. Cassidy went up and gave her a big hug and was hugged heartily in return. Kelly smiled to see the reunion.

–

In her new cabin, Cassidy looked at the clothing provided. Cerberus fatigues, Cerberus formal, colonial work overalls, and Cerberus scientist. She pulled up the display of the Cerberus omni-tool they had given her. Cassidy vowed to buy something not black & white and not filled with Cerberus spyware as soon as she had a chance.

She stared at the empty fish tank. Omega first or the Citadel? She decided that getting the scientist working on the swarm problem was the top priority, so Omega it was.

–

EDI informed her that mercs were actively going after Archangel. So, she shifted her plan to rescue him first. On the way in she found Zaeed, adding him to her posse. Getting in to him was no problem. Then he took off his helmet and her world view exploded in bright color, "Garrus!" Heavens, but he looked so tired. His voice was more world weary and mature. She ached for the drastic (to her) change in him.

–

The rocket brought him down. A red tinge filtered over her vision. She directed her the others to deal with the individuals that were dropping in, while she pulled out the Arc Projector. A couple of warps and a couple of arcs and the gunship exploded. She looked around for any remaining targets, but her new teammates had been effective. She leapt to Garrus side, her breath hitching, "Joker, get the med team ready for Garrus!" She grabbed his dextro medi gel off his armor and applied it to the worst looking wound in his neck. Soon, Miranda was floating outside the window with a cab and they got him into it and over to the Normandy.

She was breathing but she was not. She paced back and forth while Jacob wondered about her reaction. He didn't want to raise her hopes, "The doc corrected with surgery and some cybernetics. As far as we can tell, he'll have some functionality, but ..." The door opened and there Garrus was standing, reporting for duty. She breathed.

She went to her cabin and drowned her release in a hot shower.

–

In the morning, she met Miranda for breakfast, informing her that this would be a daily event barring exigent circumstances. Miranda informed her of Zaeed's placement and asked probing questions about her past association with Garrus. Cassidy deflected that with questions about certain of the crew that she had taken notice of during the tour.

Time to go get the salarian research scientist, Dr Solus. Word was that the plague did not affect humans, but most certainly did affect turians. She was relieved to be able to leave Garrus for some rest.

–

Cassidy finished entering all the research projects she had found data on. Dr Solus seemed happy as a lark in the lab, talking non-stop to himself about the swarm 'insects'.

They were on their way to the Citadel. Cassidy was hoping to get official backing from the Alliance or the Council or both. That would enable her to be less dependent on Cerberus. She felt dirty just being on the ship with its Cerberus logos and uniforms and monitors everywhere.

She was in one her new casual outfits that she had been able to get customized on Omega while she went to get Dr Solus. She was now in black and gray with red. She felt immensely more comfortable leaving the Cerberus gear in the wardrobe. However, she hadn't replaced the omni-tool yet. She wanted to do that on the Citadel.

Cassidy went down to see if Garrus had settled comfortably. To her mild surprise, he seemed more comfortable with the situation than she was. But then again his focus was the weapons, big and small, and Cerberus certainly had not stinted in that regard. They talked about his activities on Omega and his team that was. He was very uncomfortable speaking to her in regard to how his team had died. In fact he shut down and retreated into the main battery. She wondered if there was something turian going on here.

She went back into her cabin and looked up whatever was available about responsibilities of commanders and treatment of traitors. From what she found, it seemed that commanders were personally responsible for the actions of the subordinates they had placed there. By betraying the team to their deaths, Sidonis had demonstrated that Garrus had made a serious error in judgment be allowing Sidonis to be included on the team. It looked like since everything had been done unofficially and on Omega, Garrus would not have the support of the Turian rehabilitation system. Further Garrus would feel responsible for any further crimes on Sidonis' part, because of that lack of rehabilitation and because the running and hiding was a direct result of the betrayal.

She decided she would support whatever action he felt was necessary to correct his mistake. She did not feel that a superficial reading about his culture could trump his immersion in it. She had a feeling that he would feel that his responsibility would be to kill Sidonis, and even if that was so, she would still support him.

–

Citadel: Spartacus said "If you keep a low profile and keep your activities in the Terminus Systems, we are prepared to offer you reinstatement as a Spectre." "Its good to have the Council on my side" she replied diplomatically, though she really would like to tell them were to stick their assessment of her mental state as "fragile".

She talked with Anderson a bit, catching up on the last two years as far as the Citadel was concerned. Finally he told her that he couldn't talk about Ashley because of her Cerberus connections. Cassidy said, "Speaking of Cerberus connections, I can't trust my communications on the ship to be private. So, could I use one here to contact my mom?" "Certainly. I don't know what rumors she might have heard, so be prepared for anything from complete surprise to why did I have to hear it on the grapevine?" "Got it, thanks."

Anderson set up her Spectre access account on the embassy system. "There, you can log it and the com will show your ID coming from the Alliance Citadel Councilor's Office." He walked out of the office, saying "I'm going to take a long coffee break. I have set the door to your control."

Cassidy sat in Anderson's chair and pulled up the account he had made for her. She established her biometrics and activated a secure com request to the Orizaba. The Orizaba's com officer on duty came on the line, "Orizaba accepting Council Office request of Specter . . . Commander Cassidy Shepard? Oh my god! (Simpkins, go get the CO, she is going to want to take this call in her cabin!) Is that really you, Commander?" "Yes, Lieutenant Markiewicz, its a long story. I'll let my mom tell you after I talk with her, OK? Is she available?" "Just a sec . . .Transferring you now . . " Hannah's face came on, "Cassidy Florence Krueger Shepard, oh my god, honey, its really you! Oh darling, you're so thin. Why haven't I heard from you for two years? And why aren't you in Alliance wear? Tell me what going on, honey." and Hannah burst into tears.

"Oh, Mom, I was on a med slab for nearly all those two years. I just woke up a few days ago. I can't get a private connection in my current ship so I had to wait until I got to the Citadel. Mom, I was restored to life by a Cerberus team. Those disappearing colonies in the Terminus? That's the work of the Collectors. Cerberus is funding a mission to take out the Collectors and they've asked me to lead the effort. The Alliance and the Council both refused to support the mission. So, I'm commanding a Cerberus ship, Mom. But Dr Chakwas is there, on leave, Mom, so I've got some familiar support."

"Wow, honey, two years? Does your restoration have something to do with those glowing scars on your cheek? I take it they needed to use cybernetics?" "Yes, Mom, I'm told it was all very cutting edge medical science and very very expensive. Yes, I've got a fair number of implants now." "How much do you remember of that time, darling?" "Nothing really. As far as my memory goes, I was in the Normandy SR 1 just days ago, but for everybody else its been two years. I'm still trying to take in all the sudden changes." "Honey, all your assets came to me. Some of it is still there. I was setting up endowments in your name for colony kids to go to college. I'll transfer what's left to you immediately." "Thanks, Mom. The endowments sound cool. I'm glad you did that."

Cassidy saw Anderson's back on the other side of the door. "Mom, I need to go and give Anderson his office back. I love you! Please let me know when you can get to the Citadel." "Cassidy, I will do what I can to get to the Citadel sometime relatively soon. I love you. Please take care of yourself! Orizaba out."

She quickly recorded a message for Ashley, directing it through Anderson, since she was not in on where Ashley was currently posted. "Hey Ash. I don't know how much you've heard, but as you can see I'm alive. I miss you and your skills. I'm sending this to you just after I talked with my mom, so I hope you understand that I wasn't avoiding you for two years. I was in on a medical slab all that time. I hope to talk to you in person as soon as we can. Shepherd out."

She did very similar messages to Liara and Wrex and sent those out.

Cassidy closed the account and opened the door for Anderson. He walked in, carrying two steaming cups. He handed the hot chocolate to her, keeping the coffee for himself. She made to rise from the chair but he sat in the visitor chair and waved her back into his chair. "At least that chair is exceptionally comfortable, don't you think, Shepard." "Actually it feels just like the chair in my new cabin. Yes, very comfy." She savored her hot chocolate. Anderson said, "I'm going to speak with Hackett, reinstate you on the military rolls, but put you on indefinite leave for the duration of this mission. That should give you some leeway. SpecOps is going to want to grill you about Cerberus. We'll keep them off you." "That's something. Thanks."

–

She went to the Spectre Requisitions in C-Sec. With the money her mom had sent back to her, she purchased a high end omni-tool with the latest cyber-defense software available to the Spectres.

She was entering the elevator to the docks when Garrus came up and got on with her. He was in new armor. "Snazzy." she smiled at him. "Thanks, Shepard." Not the witty comeback she had come to expect from him. Well, he was stewing over his hunt for Sidonis, she imagined.

Back on board, she stopped at the CIC, while he went to the elevator to go down. She had a couple new messages that she quickly read before heading to the elevator herself to up for the night.

She dreamed. She was in the theater and it was dark, but then the screen lit up with the opening scene of the elcor performance of "Hamlet". She looked up at the control booth, where she saw Garrus. She went to the door to the booth, but it was manually locked. She knocked, but he ignored her.


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Note – I rewrote the Ashley conversation to reflect that Shepard would have sent a message as soon as possible.

The Heart Knows – Chapter 8

Cassidy was relieved that Grunt was willing to lend his strength to theirs. She did however wish she had Wrex around to help Grunt figure out the krogan thing for real, rather than just from a failed imprint from Okeer.

Garrus had been his efficient sniper self, but had not offered to hang around a bit afterward and talk about the mission, like had been their habit "like old times". She hoped he found Sidonis soon, so they could get this issue resolved.

She was about to step onto the elevator when the view to the cargo bay caught her eye. "EDI, place a requisition with Miranda for a ping pong table." Then she directed Joker to head to a nearby system and scan for mineral sources for the afternoon's work.

She spent the afternoon starting a new mission board. There wasn't much to put on it. She just had an image of Sovereign and an image of a Collector from Veetor's security footage. She also put up a list of all the colonies that had disappeared to date.

She took her dinner in the mess, hoping Garrus might show. Dr Chakwas joined her and they talked about the Mars base. Garrus came out, made a tray, but then took it back into his 'cubby hole', (which was how Cassidy thought of the main battery.) Zaeed came off the elevator, spotted her, and came directly over. "Commander, can I have a word, in private?" She got up and directed him over to the Life Support. "You remember how my condition with Cerberus was that you would help me take out Vido Santiago if I found him. Well, I found him. Eldfell-Ashland has a refinery on Zorya. He's taken over, executed anybody resisting him and is using the rest as slaves." "I see. EDI, how long would it take us to get to Zorya and will it be day or night there if we left immediately?" EDI replied "Just over 5 hours, Shepard. It would be midday there upon arrival if we left immediately. Do you wish Navigation to set our course?" "Well, Massani, any reason to wait?" "Not that I can think of, Commander." "Navigation: Set course to Zorya. Get some rest, Massanni." She sent texts to Garrus, Grunt and Jacob to be ready to join them on Zorya. They all sent acknowledgments.

–

She had split her team up down there. She had sent Garrus to go close the gas valves with Grunt and Jacob to cover him, while she and Zaeed went after Santiago. She and Zaeed were working on the heavy mech when Garrus and Jacob reached that room. She assigned them to keep the mercs busy, while she finished off the mech. As soon as it exploded, she sent Zaeed on to scout ahead while she helped mop up the last few mercs. She had gone outside to find Santiago burning and Zaeed walking back with a satisfied smirk on his face.

–

At breakfast, Miranda asked about Garrus, "Is he normally this reserved, Commander?" "No, he's got a situation that needs resolution. Not much we can do until he corners his quarry." "Does this have to do with his lost team on Omega?" "Yes, but keep hands off and let him do his own hunting. Its a turian thing going on." "If you say so, Commander."

–

Cassidy agreed with Garrus about the guards on Purgatory. She felt bad that they had to take out so many. She agreed with the Warden's principles as he had stated them to her on the way in. It wasn't the guards' fault that the Warden had gotten so greedy and stupid. She hoped that many of them were salvageable, that she, Garrus and Wrex had not outright killed too many.

Jack was down under engineering. Cassidy wasn't sure if she could socialize Jack into any form of normal, but she would try. For the moment she would be hands off with Jack.

She went to have lunch in the mess, just letting the conversations of the crew wash over her.

–

Horizon: Cassidy was glad when she saw Ashley come up. "How are you, Ash? Its been too long."

"I got your message, Shepard, but you didn't really give much detail. Where were you on a medical slab? It can't have been Alliance, or they would have let us know. There were memorial services for you."

"Cerberus put me back together. They gave me the intel about the missing colonies and asked me to lead their effort to stop the force behind it."

"You're with Cerberus? And Garrus, too? I can't believe the reports were right. Why did Anderson stonewall me about this?"

"I went to Anderson. Neither the Alliance nor the Council are willing to support this mission officially. But, Anderson got me leave and the Council reinstated my Spectre status and practically pushed me out here into the Traverse."

"I don't trust Cerberus. It bothers me that you do. What did they do to you when you were on that slab? What if they are behind these attacks behind your back?"

"I don't trust Cerberus, either, that's why I sent you the message from Anderson's office. But they are supporting the mission and gave me control. I need more people with me that I can trust, and that could be you, Ashley."

"I'll never work with any connection to Cerberus. I'm no fan of aliens, but they are extremist."

"It's my command and you can see that I have Garrus and Grunt, here. I've got a salarian researcher, too. So, nobody is telling me I can't have the best, human or alien, except you."

"I know where my loyalty lies. I won't leave the Alliance, its in my blood."

"I'm very sorry that you can't trust Anderson, can't trust me, Garrus, Dr Chakwas or Joker. The Collectors are the enemy. They're working with the Reapers."

"I'm going back to the Citadel and talk to Anderson, see if anything you say holds up. Goodbye, Shepard."

Ashley stalked away.

Cassidy called for a pickup. "I'm sick of this place." "Right behind you, Shepard" said Garrus.

–

After speaking with the Illusive Man, she was even more angry. She calmed herself and updated the mission board, adding images of the the new types of monsters the Collectors had sent into the battle and the fact that something could possess one of them and gain biotic powers.

Cassidy dreamed that night. She was in a hospital, bare-ass gown and all. Ashley walked in the door, stethescope around her neck. She wheeled in a cart with a body scanner on it. "Lie flat on your back, Shepard. If you're brainwashed we'll soon see." She put the bar over Cassidy. When she went to activate it, though, it sparked and smoked and died. "So, they put some kind of protective field emitters in you, did they, the bastards?" She took a big scalpel off the cart. "We're just going to have to cut that out of you, aren't we?" Cassidy watched the scalpel come down toward her chest. Just before the scalpel touched her skin, it fell away when a bullet hit Ashley's hand. "You, too, Garrus?" said Ashley out the window. Ashley left. Cassidy got up and went to the window. There was no sign of Garrus.


	9. Chapter 9

The Heart Knows – Chapter 9

Cassidy had trouble waking up and felt a little fuzzy when she got up the next morning. She went to Dr Chakwas first thing. "Hmm, looks like some sort of allergic reaction, or it could be a virus / bacteria. Sit while I check your blood sample." Dr Chakwas put the vial of blood into one of the machines and programmed the counts she wanted. "So, I understand that Ashley was not receptive to joining us." "She was rather hostile to the idea, is more like it." "Oh dear. Well, maybe Anderson can help her see straight on this."

The machine beeped and Dr Chakwas read the file. "Hmm, nothing that shouldn't be there, except an elevated white count." She took a spritzer bottle and told Cassidy, "You are going to breathe in and hold it, then I'm going to spray into your nose to make you sneeze into this tissue. Ready? Breathe." Cassidy sneezed very hard into tissue. Dr Chakwas took the tissue and dropped it into the top of a different machine and started that running.

Miranda's voice sounded in the med bay. "Commander, are we not meeting for breakfast today?" "Its just delayed, Miranda. I'm with Dr Chakwas. I'm sorry I forgot to message you." "I figured something like that when EDI told me you were in the med bay. Will you be long in there?" Cassidy looked up at Dr Chakwas, who said "The Commander should be joining you for your breakfast meeting in about 15 minutes, Miranda." "Thank you, Dr. I'll see you soon, Commander." The tissue machine beeped and Dr Chakwas read the report. "Hmm, something odd encased in your mucus lining. Looks like a sort of pollen." She got out an injector and went to her cabinets.

Just then Garrus came into the room, eyes watering. "Dr Chakwas, I seem to be having a reaction." he rasped. "So I see, Garrus. Sit there. I'll be with you in just a moment." She handed the injector to Cassidy. "You know how to use this on yourself. Do it while I test Garrus." She took one of the tissues and went to Garrus and swabbed the liquid coming out of the corners of his eyes. She reset the tissue machine, changed some parameters and set it whirring. Cassidy meanwhile pressed the injector to the inside of the left wrist and pushed the trigger button. She looked at Garrus, "Looks like maybe we breathed in some unusual pollen yesterday." "Hmm, as if Collectors and husks and the rest weren't enough." he replied.

Dr Chakwas read the report of the machine and prepped a different injector for Garrus, handing it to him. He pressed his to the skin inside his mouth and triggered it. Cassidy was suddenly feeling very clear-headed. "Wow, that helps, a lot. I'll be heading to breakfast, then." "Just come back in six hours for another dose or sooner if you need to."

Cassidy went to the mess. As she was walking up to the galley, Gardner put a lid over the plate and handed her the tray. "Black beans & rice with corn tortillas and mild tomato salsa. Bon appetit, Commander." he said. "Thanks, Gardner" she replied. "Oh, I almost forgot. Here's a pot of that raspberry lemon herbal tea you like." He placed an insulated cylinder on her tray. She smiled at him and went up to her cabin to finally start the day.

–

Cassidy was glad to have Tali onboard. Not that she didn't trust Ken and Gabby, but she was with Joker on this, that it just felt better knowing Tali was taking care of engineering.

They spent the rest of the day scanning for resources.

The next stop would be to Illium. They could restock there as well as recruit the asari Justicar and the drell assassin. Miranda had said that they would have a ping pong table waiting for them there as well.

–

It was good to see Liara again, but the change in her was striking. She was very much in control of her situation and she had visibly matured. Cassidy wasn't sure it that sudden of a change was a good sign for an asari, especially one as relatively young as Liara. Cassidy agreed to help with the hacking (actually she got Tali to do that).

And it was good to see Gianna Parasini as well. Cassidy enjoyed the bit of camaraderie they developed.

Cassidy liked Thane right away. He was courteous, and seemed honorable. She looked forward to getting to know him. She hoped that Jacob would get past Thane's profession and get to know him as well. After Thane and Jacob left the debriefing room, Miranda sent a message asking for a chat in her office. So, Cassidy headed down there.

"You remember how we talked about my sister, Shepard? Well since we're here on Illium, Cerberus has decided to go ahead with the move tomorrow morning, since we're here." "OK, so what time should we meet with Lanteia?" "She's expecting us just after our regular breakfast." "Alright, then. Liara said that Samara should arrive on Illium tomorrow or the next day. She'll let me know. We've planned a get-together at Liara's apartment, just the SR-1 crew. That's starting very soon, since its night already, Illium time. I'll see you in the morning." "Oh, Shepard, the ping pong table has been delivered and set up. I think Jacob is rather interested in it."

–

Liara had a nice spread of food and drinks available. Cassidy arrived with Garrus, Tali, Dr Chakwas and Joker. They had an interesting time rehashing the Saren mission (which felt odd to Cassidy as that seemed just a few months ago to her). Garrus took Liara aside for a private chat at one point. Otherwise, he mostly just listened, contributing a few comments, but nothing like his usual self. Cassidy hoped Liara could help Garrus with his hunt. Tali was extremely chatty and provided quite a few straight lines to Joker's acerbic wit and they had some good laughs. Finally, Cassidy pleaded the need for rest and they helped clean up before heading back to the ship.

Cassidy dreamed that night. She was on the tropical moonlit beach. The hut was alive with light and merry voices. Garrus was sitting on the beach, staring out at the water. Cassidy came up next to him and sat down. She tentatively put a hand onto his hand, but he said "Not right now. I'm in the middle of some calibrations." So she turned so that she was facing him, while he continued looking out at the water. "I'm not leaving, Garrus." She got up and moved to his back. She knelt and loosely hugged his neck from behind. He leaned his head against hers.

Oriana was safe and Miranda did not have Niket's murder on her hands. Cassidy however had picked up an intense dislike for Henry Lawson, based on his extreme efforts to try to get to Oriana. Cassidy decided she would ask Liara to flag Mr Lawson in her intel searches.

When they got back to the ship, Kasumi came up. "Shepard, we need to get you a dress. So, do you want to dress shop here or on the Citadel? I suggest we get something here and something on the Citadel so you can change your mind when its time to dress for the party, which is in three days." "Well, let me change out of my armor, then we can go grab a cab, OK?" "I'll wait for you right here at the airlock."

They visited two shops. Cassidy found a long sleeve black dress that she felt was stretchy enough for her to move in. Kasumi held up a pair of high heel pumps to with the dress, but Cassidy, "You think I could walk, much less run and slide into cover in those?" She picked up a pair of black cowboy boots with red embroidery and Kasumi said "You know, I think that look will work nicely." Kasumi then took Cassidy to a ramen/sushi place for dinner. "I have a statue being delivered to the ship, Shepard. I already let EDI know to expect it. Its another piece for the party." "OK, if that's what we need, Kasumi"

–

It was the wee hours of the morning ship time, when Liara called. "Shepard, I just got word that Samara is at the spaceport. You should get over there quickly if you want to recruit her. I'll have a cab waiting for you at your dock." Cassidy blearily answered "OK, thanks for the heads up, Liara. Normandy out. EDI, wake Garrus and Zaeed, tell them to meet me at the airlock in ten minutes." She got up, put her armor on and went to the airlock. One of the crew (Cassidy hadn't learned all their names yet) was there with a tray of favored flavors of energy bars and drinks for the three of them. Cassidy asked "How did you know to do this?" The woman said, "EDI said". Garrus and Zaeed came up, grabbed stuff off the tray and they went out to get in Liara's cab.

–

Samara was ensconced in the observation room. Cassidy figured that the fugitive Samara had been tracking would show up on their to-do list at some point. Well, she wouldn't cross that bridge 'til they came to it.

She went upstairs, wanting to take a hot shower, but when she stepped out of the elevator, she found Garrus waiting outside her cabin door. "Shepard, can I have a few minutes?" "Sure Garrus, come on in. What's on your mind?" "Liara came through for me. She found a recent data link to Sidonis. He is on the Citadel, had a meeting with somebody called 'Fade'. Can we head there soon? I'd like to set up a meeting myself with this Fade" Cassidy inwardly cheered. "Yes, the Citadel was our next stop anyway. The meeting can be as soon after we dock as you like." The Cassidy gave a small laugh. Garrus said "Something funny?" "Oh, its just that now I can delay the rest of shopping that Kasumi is going to drag me through." "Oh, um, why are you letting her take you shopping?" "We have to dress appropriately for a party during which she wants to steal back something the host stole from her late boyfriend." "Oh, well, um, I'm glad I can provide you with a reason to delay. I have a meeting to arrange." His flanges loosened a little, the he turned and left. Hmm, its a start, thought Cassidy.

She took her shower and changed so she could meet Liara for a final lunch before they departed. Liara was waiting at the dock and they took a cab to a rooftop restaurant in a nearby building. It had a gorgeous view. Liara talked about her confrontation with Nyxeris and about the state of her hunt for Feron. Cassidy talked about her impressions of Samara and Thane, about Grunt and Mordin, and about Jacob and Miranda. Liara said "Ever since the other night at my apartment, I've gotten the feeling that you are worried about Garrus, Shepard." "Liara, its just Cassidy to you now. Yes, I have been concerned. He is bearing this tremendous burden of responsibility for the betrayal of his team on Omega. Its kind-of like what I went through after Akuze, but only more so because turian culture lays the responsibility for such things on the commander of the unit. So, the info you found for him has relieved some of his frustration. I hope he can resolve things soon." "Yes, I hope so too, Cassidy."


	10. Chapter 10

The Heart Knows – Chapter 10

"Keep him talking so I have time line up a shot." Garrus told her. So, she got him talking. It sounded like he was pressured into the betrayal. She didn't move out of the way yet. Garrus called him a coward. She wanted Garrus to hear more of what Sidonis had to say. Sidonis kept talking, saying he had trouble sleeping, eating, was having suicidal thoughts. "He's paying for this already, Garrus." "He has to pay for those 10 people, Shepard." "Isn't this supposed to be about his rehabilitation, if possible? Do you believe he's a danger anymore?" Sidonis said "I'll make this up to him somehow." "Damn it, Shepard, you're right. Let him go."

She went back to the ship to shower and then joined Kasumi for a second shopping trip. This time Kasumi talked her into a two-piece red with black patterns. Kasumi teased her, "This one highlights your waist, Shepard. Its, um, very enticing to turians." Cassidy gave Kasumi a look. "I see how you look at him, Shepard. You should approach him soon, now that he's resolved his team issue. I think he'll be receptive."

That evening, she ordered her dinner up in her cabin. When the door chime rang, it was Garrus, bringing both her tray and one for him. "I hope you don't mind, Shepard. I know I said I wasn't ready to talk about this down there, and I also know that you will give me my space until I'm ready. Well, um, I don't really want space between us, so I thought we'd get that talk done and behind us." "You are most certainly welcome to dine here with me, Garrus, just like old times. I missed our talks over meals in front of the old mission board." He came in and put the trays on the table.

"Garrus, are you OK with the Sidonis situation?" "Actually, Shepard, I am. You were right, it was supposed to be about rehabilitating him if possible and protecting the community in the future. I didn't expect you to know about those things." "I did a lot of research about the Turian attitudes and expectations. There's an excellent book that our ambassadors to the Turian Heirarchy have to read, and so I read it. I really wanted to understand where your head was at and I wanted to make an honest effort at making my advice to you appropriate to your beliefs, not human ones."

He got up and paced a bit. "Why would you go to so much effort for a crew person, Shepard?" She put down her fork and looked up at his eyes. "You are much more to me than a crew person, Garrus. I care for you, personally. I hope you feel the same way, but if not, I'll not mention it again." Garrus stopped. "Are you saying that you would like us to be something more than friendly colleagues, something more intimate?" "Yes, Garrus. That's what I'm asking." and she looked away, turning red. He reached out and gently lifted her chin until she was standing.

"Shepard, when you died, part of me died also. I didn't realize how much you had become important to me until you weren't there anymore. Without you, my world was gray and bleak, but I didn't realize even how gray, until the day you walked back into my life. Yes, I care for you very much and to be with you personally would make my world very very bright." He took hold of her shoulders and brought his forehead down to touch hers. After a bit, she brought her lips to his and gently kissed him. "Shepard . . ." "Its "Cassidy" to you, now please." His flanges went wide. "Cassidy. Let's finish our dinner." He took her hand and led her back to the table.

They ate in silence for a few minutes. "Cassidy, I'm finding myself at a loss as to what to do next. If this were a turian ship, we might relieve tension sexually together without any serious commitment. If this were a committed turian relationship, it would not be unusual for us to spend most of our non-duty time together. This is a human ship and you are the captain. So, tell me how you want to proceed." Cassidy thought about this for a bit while she ate. "Normally, I might say let's wait for shore leave to get together, but this mission may be possibly suicidal. I want as much of you as I can get while we can. So, I'm inviting you back up here for dinner tomorrow after Kasumi's party and I'd like you to stay the night after that. We can then talk about what we want to do after that. How does that sound to you?" He ate his last bite. "I can do that, Cassidy. I look forward to dinner, and after, tomorrow." He leaned over to her and kissed her. Then he got up, picked up both their trays, widened his flanges at her and left.

She got up and thought about the after dinner part of tomorrow, "EDI, please ask Dr Chakwas to come up here."

The doctor arrived, carrying her medical satchel about 10 minutes later. "Shepard, you asked to see me?" "Please come in and sit, doctor. This is a personal consultation, please." "OK, what can I do for you?" "Well, what do I need to know about human-turian sexual contact?" "Oh, you and Garrus are finally together, Shepard? That's happy news. Let's see. Well, because of the incompatibility of the levo and dextro amino acid biologies of each species, you should avoid any exchange of fluids, at least until you determine if either will react allergically. So, a condom is necessary at first, and I suggest you use a lubricating barrier as well just in case, until you can rule out allergic reactions." "So, basic skin on skin is not a problem?" "Yes, basic skin on skin is probably fine, unless you have noticed any redness or swelling? No? Tomorrow I will bring up some appropriate supplies for you – or do you want them tonight?" "No, tomorrow will be fine. Thank you." "Well, I hope you don't mind my saying, Shepard, I think he is a wonderful choice for you. You seem to match each other well, personality-wise. I think your mother will approve, when you are ready to let her know."

EDI's voice came into the room. "Shepard, the Illusive Man wishes to speak with you. He says it is urgent." "I'll be right down." They both got up and headed for the elevator. Dr Chakwas said, "I'll go to the med bay in case the Illusive Man's call is leading us to an imminent combat situation." Cassidy nodded to her and got off at the CIC, while Dr Chakwas continued another deck down.

–

"He tries another stunt like that again and the Collectors will be the least of his problems!" Cassidy growled. "Joker, how much delay will we have getting to Bekenstein?" "Well, Commander, I think you'll just be fashionably late to the party." "Alright then, I'm going to get as much sleep as I can before we get there."

–

So much for Donovan Hock. Cassidy had leaped into the shuttle shut behind Kasumi. Kasumi dropped a bag on the floor as she dropped into a seat. Casssidy asked the pilot, "Any trouble with flight control on the planet?" "No, Hock apparently had no official scrutiny on any shuttles coming in or out of his place, so no questions asked." She turned back to Kasumi, "What's in the bag?" "Your party clothes, the graybox, and one or two small treasures from Hock's place." "Ah."

"So, you had dinner with Garrus, but he didn't stay." "Are you keeping tabs on me?" "More like noticing Garrus being out and about more that he did before. He seemed more relaxed on the way back." "Well, we have another dinner date tonight. You shouldn't wait up to see him on the way back, though. I invited him to stay the night." "Oo, good for you two! Quite a few of the crew have been hoping that you two would get together already." Kasumi smiled.

Back on the ship, Kasumi asked Cassidy to come down and be there when she explored Keiji's graybox. So, Cassidy went up, put away her dress and boots, took a shower and changed. She noticed a box on her desk, labeled from Dr Chakwas. She opened it and noticed a containers of personal lubricating sealant, two injectors and two different kinds of antihistime, and a massage roller. She put the lid on the box with a quick smile, taking it over and placing it beside the bed. Then she went to see Kasumi. After Keiji's final message played, Cassidy encouraged Kasumi to do as Keiji asked and delete the contents, but Kasumi couldn't do it herself, but allowed Cassidy to wipe the box for her. Then Cassidy turned and hugged Kasumi and let her cry. Kasumi eventually broke away, saying she'd like to be alone. Cassidy left Kasumi to grieve.

It was a few hours before dinner time, so Cassidy went to the debriefing room to update her mission board. She printed off an image of the giant inner chamber of the Collector ship. The note she put with that was "They have spaces for everyone on Earth." She put a note under the Collector image about them being re-purposed Protheans.

Miranda walked in and looked over the board. She said, "Shepard, I was just talking with Mordin. He mentioned he'd like to talk to you." She turned and left. Cassidy cleaned up and went to see Mordin.

–

Cassidy met Garrus in the mess hall where they both collected dinner trays. He had a small duffle bag on his back. As they rode up in the elevator, he asked her about the party and the associated mission with Kasumi. She told him about holding back a smirk during Hock's "gleeful delusions of peace" speech and about the treasures in his vault.

They went into her cabin and sat down to dinner. She told him about Mordin's concern for his student from the genophage alteration project. Then she asked, "So what did you do while Kasumi and I were hobnobbing with slavers and mass-murderers?" "Several of us went down to the city and picked up some supplies." He reached down and pulled a couple of wine bottles and goblets out of his bag. "I found a wine shop that was well stocked and reasonably priced." He handed her a glass and poured for her from the bottle with the blue ring around its neck. Then he poured for himself from the other bottle, which had a red ring around its neck.

Cassidy took a sip of her wine, enjoying the light fruity taste. She asked, "Is yours similar, just dextro?" "Yes, I thought some nice simple white would be safe. The clerk called it a 'ger-shwerts-a-meener'." "OK, that's nice to know. I'm not knowledgable about wines. I do like this. What else was notable about the city?" "They had a nice art museum that I walked through. They even had one turian painter on display. They said his work was on loan." They finished eating, talking about the art in the museum.

Garrus picked up their trays and got up, putting them on her desk. He turned back, his flanges loose. He teased, "So, you sure you don't want something closer to home. I saw Hopkins admiring you in that dress as you were leaving earlier." Cassidy got up and walked over to him, quite serious, "I want someone I trust. I want you, Garrus." She put her hands on the chest plate of his armor and presented her forehead. He lowered his to hers.

He raised his head and went back to get his duffle. "Mordin suggested a way to see if we'll have allergic reactions right off." He pulled a couple of bottles out. He sat down on the couch and patted the seat next to him. "Come see." She came and sat down and took one of the bottles from him, reading "Chocolate Mint, edible body oil, levo." He said "I also found an adult store down there." He took the bottle from her hand and opened it. Then he exposed the skin of one of his arms up to the elbow and squeezed a bit onto the softer skin just inside his elbow. "If we leave this for a few minutes and the skin doesn't react then we can try the next step."

She pushed her sleeve up and presented her elbow to him and squeezed some from the red labeled bottle onto her. She smiled, "So, the next step would be that I get to lick chocolate mint oil off of you?" His subharmonics started purring "And I off of you."

Neither of them show any skin reactions, so they took the next step, unable to keep from laughing. While they waited again, they helped each other out of their top clothing. He cupped her breast with his hand, teasing the nipple to attention. He then pulled her to him in a hug, breathing into her hair. His heartbeat was flying. She pulled back and checked her elbow and then his. No reaction. She grabbed one of the bottles and got up. She went and dug a sheet from a drawer and covered the bed with it. Then she motioned him over. She reached up and pulled his head down for a kiss. Then they helped each other out of their remaining clothing.

They explored each other, with oils and tongues and fingers. When he placed his finger on her clit, he looked up at her, "Here?" "Oh, yes, please!" So he turned his gaze downward and used his tongue there. He was pleased to hear her moan, to feel her heat, to see her flush. He kept at it until she rasped at him, "I want you now, Garrus." He sat up, reached over to his duffle, pulling out a condom. She scooched up and got her box, taking the sealant out. She came back down to him and took the condom. She reached down and found his cock, swollen and hot. She eased the condom down onto him, unrolling it with stroke after stroke. His eyes dazed a bit, "Cassidy . . ." She poured some sealant into her hands and coated the condom with it.

She encouraged him onto his back on the bed, his crest over the edge. She straddled herself over him. He reached down and touched her to guide his tip into her. She slowly lowered herself onto him, easing herself back and forth as he filled her bit by bit. He was amazed as she lowered herself nearly all the way. She started rocking herself up and down in a languid ride. Then she grabbed hold of him and turned them so that he was on his knees on the floor and she on her back connected with him at the edge. His turn. He rocked in and back, starting slowly then grabbing her hips and gaining speed. She, breathing hard, moaned "Garrus!" The heat ran up his body as he released.

She pulled him down to her on the bed and hugged him, their breathing returning slowly to normal. "Mmmm" she hummed into his shoulder. He breathed in the scent of her hair and said, "Mmmm, indeed." After a while, she kissed him and said, "You go get in the shower first, then me." They untangled themselves and he grabbed his duffle and went to the shower. She lay there, enjoying the glow for a bit. Then she got up, put the sealant bottle back into the box and putting the box into a bedside drawer.

Just then, her bedside com started blinking and the word "EDI" appeared on the display. She touched a button on the com, saying "Audio only, accept com request. What do you need, EDI?" "Shepard, the sound of cracking glass has been noted coming from Grunt's room. You should investigate." "I'll be down there momentarily." She got up, grabbed some sweats out of the bedside drawer and started dressing. Garrus came out of the shower, "Something up?" "I gotta go see Grunt. Seems he's become agitated. I'll be back shortly." She went out to the elevator and down.

"EDI says you're tearing up the place. What's going on?" "Shepard, its a blood haze in my head and even you are just noise. On the battlefield I can focus, but here, the fury, its not my choice." "We're heading to Tuchanka anyway. We'll take you to Urdnot, see what they have to say about this. Can you reign yourself in until then? Do we need to give you something to help you calm down?" "Now that I know we are going to Tuchanka, I can handle it until tomorrow. Thank you, Shepard."

She went back to the elevator, met Jack who was coming off the elevator with a mug in her hand. Jack stopped a moment, "Chocolate Mint . . . and sex. Well well, look who's finally bagged her turian." Then Jack brushed past Cassidy and went toward her quarters. Cassidy shook her head and went back to her cabin.

Garrus was there on the couch, reading something on his omni-tool. "The ship going to survive?" "He says its a fury, a blood haze in his head. But he also says that since we're headed to Tuchanka, he can handle it 'til we get there." She turned and went into the shower.

Cassidy took the side of the bed to her left (farthest from the lockers), letting Garrus take the right. She fell asleep with his arm over her, which felt extremely comforting.


	11. Chapter 11

The Heart Knows – Chapter 11

Tuchanka: Cassidy felt the ground shake in that way that she remembered. A thresher maw. She pulled out the Collector beam weapon. She wasn't going to let it take her or any of her crew, not this time. She let her anger rise. Let it come.

It took all of the beam energy. She threw warp after warp at it. She targeted the Incisor sniper rifle right into its maw. Finally, it went down. Taking Gatatog Uvenk and his goons down was a cakewalk after that.

–

Cassidy and Garrus went back to the Normandy for lunch, while Wrex took Grunt around for introductions.

Quite a few of the crew came into the mess to hear Garrus tell about the battle with the thresher maw. Mordin was among them, looking a bit pale. "Going planetside may be . . problematic." he muttered. "Still, must be done."

–

Maelon safe, Weyrloc no more. Cassidy went to go to the elevator, but Kelly stopped her. "Commander, you may find Tali waiting by your door. She got some sort of disturbing message this afternoon." "Thanks for the heads up, Kelly." Cassidy waited at the elevator for it to come back from taking Wrex down. Finally, she went up.

Tali was there, wringing her hands. Cassidy opened the door, "Come on in, Tali. Have you had dinner yet?" "What? Oh, no, I guess I haven't." "EDI, have two dinner trays sent up. One for me, one for Tali." "Yes, Shepard." "Tali, please have a seat over on the couch. I'll be out in a minute."

Cassidy came out, face and hands clean now. She started taking her armor off. "Tell me what's wrong. I'm listening." "I got a message from the fleet today, Shepard. The Admiralty Board has charged me with treason."

"What? That's crazy. Do you have any idea what's going on?" "No, they only lay charges like this if the evidence seems absolute. I'm so worried. If they find me guilty, I'll be exiled – I could never go back." "How soon do we need to get you back there?" "They will wait a reasonable time for me to return, up to a couple weeks. If I wait too long though, they will try me in absentia." "OK, we will head that way, but I know Samara has been tracking her fugitive so that may come up anytime now, and Jack may finally find something in the Cerberus records. I'll get you there in time, but it may not be right away. OK, Tali?" Tali let out a small sigh of relief. "Thank you, Shepard. I'm glad I won't have to book passage on another ship. I'll feel better if you are with me."

The door chimed. She opened it to see Garrus with a cart and three dinner trays on it. She called back to Tali, "Do you mind if Garrus joins us for dinner?" "That's just fine, please do join us, Garrus!" He pulled the cart in. Tali walked up and Garrus handed her a tray, then picked up his. Cassidy took the remaining one.

It was a little tight around her small coffee table, but they managed to get all three trays on there. Cassidy pulled over a chair and sat. They asked her about Mordin's rescue mission. Tali repeated to Garrus about the treason charges. Soon dinner was done. Cassidy said, "Care for ping pong tonight?" looking from one to the other. Garrus said "Sure." Tali said "I will play a couple games for fun, but I never really got the knack of it back then." "Let me meet you guys down there in about 20 minutes." They put their trays back on the cart and Tali rolled it out of the room with Garrus right behind her.

Cassidy dashed into the shower to rinse off and changed into sweats and gym shoes. She scanned her messages, didn't see anything pressing. So, she went down to the cargo hold.

Tali was playing against Hadley. There were a few other crew around watching the game. From what Cassidy could tell, Hadley seemed to be going easy on Tali, no slams or short shots. Cassidy went to stand next to Garrus and watch. Finally, Tali missed the game point and they both put their paddles on the table. Hadley walked out with one of the women. Tali motioned to Cassidy and Garrus, "Looks like its your turn." So they took up paddles and started playing. They played hard. Garrus tried to slam them out of her reach and occasionally succeeded. They were tied, one game each, when Thane and Zaeed came in. Cassidy served first on the third game. Zaeed teased when either of them missed. Thane congratulated exceptional slams and saves. They were down to the final game point, Garrus had the advantage. He served hard, but Cassidy saved, and it went back and forth until Garrus put a slam just on the corner of the table and Cassidy just missed it. Applause from the watchers all around. Garrus seemed happy. Thane politely offered to play Tali and she accepted. Cassidy and Garrus headed to the elevator.

When the elevator door closed, Garrus asked "Do you want company tonight, Cassidy?" She smiled up at him, "Yes, please."

–

Cassidy woke up about a half hour earlier than usual. She turned over to see Garrus sitting on the couch, reading his omni-tool. "Couldn't sleep?" she asked. He took the omni-tool off and came to sit next to her on the bed. "Just a lot on my mind." He leaned over and kissed her. "Do you have some time?" he purred to her. She took his hand and placed it on her bare breast, saying "in fact, I do have some".

–

Garrus was showered and out the door before Miranda came in for the daily breakfast meeting. They had just finished going over the agenda, when the door chimed. Miranda gathered her stuff and opened the door to Samara. "May I have a word, Commander." "Come in and have a seat, Samara." Samara came and sat where Miranda had been. "Your fish tank looks very restful, Shepard." "Yes, I find that watching it helps to still my mind sometimes." "Looking out at the empty void fulfills the same purpose for me. But, to the reason I came - I wanted to let you know that I have been tracking that fugitive, Shepard, and I have located her . . . "

They had spent the morning scanning for resources, having practically used up their store of palladium and platinum. Cassidy used the time to catch up on her messages. She took her lunch down in the mess hall. Garrus came in and sat with his tray across from her. He told her all about the new Thanix tech he had put into the main guns. When they finished eating, he asked to accompany him to the main battery.

He proudly showed her the new specs on the guns. Then he locked the door. He asked, "How do you think our getting together is affecting the crew, Cassidy?" "Based on the comments that have been directed at me or spoken in my hearing, I think the crew is saying, 'finally'. Miranda has not voiced any criticism and you know she would if she felt we were subverting the mission." "Well, I'm glad to hear that. A few of the men have made encouraging or congratulatory comments, and Jack was well, Jack." "Yes, I ran into her just after I attended to Grunt's emergency. She knew what had been going on when she smelled chocolate mint on me."

"So, how do you want to go forward, Cassidy? Do you want me to check with you each evening?" Cassidy thought for a few moments. "Honestly, I think it would be less awkward if you moved up there with me. My standing schedule would be breakfast with Miranda, lunch with the crew and dinner upstairs with you. What do you think of that?" "Well as long as we make the effort to get out and play ping pong with other folks from time to time, I think that could work out." She smiled hugely. "OK, then. While Samara and I are on Omega this afternoon, you can move your stuff up at your convenience. There is the equipment locker and drawers on the right side." "I'll see you this evening then, Cassidy." She turned and walked out.

–

With Morinth dead, Samara expressed her freedom, yet her conflicting emotions between herself as a mother and as a Justicar. Cassidy hoped she would never face such a situation.

Kasumi was in the hall when Cassidy came out of Samara's room. She beckoned, "Oh, Shepard, come let's chat a bit. I've got chocolate truffles!" Cassidy laughed and followed Kasumi into her room. "So, I saw Garrus carrying a couple big bags over to the elevator. I'm assuming they went upstairs, and not off the ship. So, is he moving in?" Cassidy took a truffle and enjoyed it. Then she replied, "Yes, I asked him to move in and he agreed. I think it will make things less awkward than having him wondering where he's going to be each night." "I agree. Also, people will then get used to him leaving the battery and not always assume his purpose. So, is he all that girls dream turians would be like?" "I don't think any turian could live up to the fantasies, but I am very happy with his attentions." Cassidy looked at the time and walked back to the door. "Oh, did you know one of the girls in Navigation thinks she might be pregnant?" "No, I didn't, but I'll let Dr Chakwas handle that one. Talk to you later."

Cassidy went down to Engineering and went up to Tali. "We going to dock with the Migrant Fleet tomorrow. Who do want to go in there with you?" "Shepard, I think that you and Garrus are the only ones I would want to come to such a personally important event. You will ask Garrus for me, please?" "Yes, I'll ask him. Do you need company tonight? We could play ping pong, or I could teach you some card games." "No, thank you, but I'm going to read a new book I picked up on Bekenstein. I'll see you after breakfast."

Cassidy stepped off on the crew deck and went to the main battery. "Ready for dinner?" "Give me just a moment here . . . " he finished buffing his sniper rifle, then broke it down and put it into a backpack. He put the pack on his back and motioned her out the door. They got trays at the galley and took them up to their cabin. "Did you find enough places for your stuff?" "You had more than enough empty space in here, Cassidy. I had no problem." They put their trays on the coffee table and sat to eat.

"Tomorrow we are going to meet up with the Migrant Fleet for Tali's trial. She and I both want you to come with us, but its a request, so if you're uncomfortable with it, just say so." "I have no problem being there with you and Tali, Cassidy." "How do you feel about a movie tonight? Something comedic maybe." "OK, how about Space Race?" "Oh, I like that series. EDI, lower the screen, cue up the movie 'Space Race", adjust room lighting to 'theater'." A large monitor levered down out of the ceiling tiles to rest in front of the fish tank, the room lights dimmed and the Citadel Council copyright warning showed on the screen . . . She moved over to sit beside him and he put his arm around her.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The morning meeting done, Miranda picked up their trays and was just about to leave when the door chimed. She opened the door and Jacob was there. Miranda nodded at him as she walked to the elevator, "Jacob." "Miranda." "Come in, Jacob. Have a seat. What's up?" "I got pinged by a ghost the other night, Commander. . . "

Garrus walked into their cabin with two dinner trays and saw Cassidy with the display case open. She was struggling with placing the holding pins. He put the trays on the coffee table, then came over and gently moved her back, "Here, let me." He levered the pins into place then used the heat gun to adhere the pins to the back glass. He backed up. "That should do it. You can put the quarian ship in there now." "Thanks, I normally have one of the guys come put the pins in, but I thought I could reach these myself. Oh well, glad you were here." She smiled up at him. He put his arms around her and lowered his forehead to hers. "Glad to be here."

"I've given Tali leave to do whatever she needs to grieve for her father. I think what she wants to do is throw herself into her work. She dived right into the engine specs after getting back on board." "Hmm, I can remember wanting to bury myself in fighting the good fight, when I lost you. That is not something I want to go through again." and he pulled her in a snug hold. "I know, I threw myself into my Academy Training when we lost my dad. I still miss him, Garrus."

"How do you feel about a late evening mission. EDI said that we'll get there during the morning where the distress beacon from the Hugo Gernsback is, if we left immediately. So, we're on our way." "Sounds like we'll need our dinner then. Let's go eat before it gets cold." They sat at the couch and pulled the lids off their trays and started eating. "Tell me about your dad, Cassidy." "My dad was Benjamin Shepard, a medical officer for the Alliance. He was born on Earth, in Minnesota. Becoming a doctor and serving in space was his boyhood dream. He became friends with Dr Chakwas when they both were becoming doctors. Then, in the Academy, Dr Chakwas introduced him to my mom, Hannah Krueger, who was in training as a command officer. They married just after graduating from the Academy. They were both assigned to the Fifth Fleet, but different ships."

She reached over and pulled the frame of the bedside table. She cycled the image to their wedding photo and handed it to him. "I was born on Arcturus Station, at the Alliance Naval Medical Facility. They took assignments on non-combat ships for years so they could be together with me. But then when I was a teen, I went back to Arcturus Station for high school. Then one would stay with me while the other went out on more dangerous missions."

He had cycled the image to the pic of her in her new Alliance uniform, hugging them both. "He was so proud that day. That's the last photo I have of him." "What happened?" "He was CMO on a patrol ship in a flotilla that came upon a batarian slave grab on one of our colonies. He happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when a batarian suicide fighter crashed into his ship." He reached out and held her hand. "I'm so sorry, Cassidy." "Thanks. I miss him, but I've come to terms with his passing. I'm OK."

–

Jacob's father was going to prison. Cassidy felt for Jacob. She wouldn't want a sorry excuse for a commander show up as her dad a decade later. She and Garrus went up to their cabin and wearily put their armor away, took quick showers, and went straight to sleep.

–

At the breakfast meeting, Cassidy agreed with Miranda that they would need to find more mineral resources (all day scans) then the next day go to the Citadel to get the armor, shields and fuel cells upgraded, probably a 2-day stay. Mordin had been busy with the research, as he was happy to be.

Cassidy decided to use some of the morning to go through her martial arts forms. She cleared as much space as she could and then went through them a first time, slowly, letting the muscle memories take her from one position to the next. She was well into the second black belt form when her com panel signaled a com request. She finished the form, then went to see who was calling.

The message was coming from the Orizaba, Hannah's sig. Cassidy sat and accepted the request. "Mom! What's up?" "Cassidy, honey. You're looking well! I wanted to let you know that the Orizaba is going to be stopping at the Citadel for a resupply / shore leave. We should be docking ..."

At that moment, Garrus came into the room. "Cassidy, do you want in on the ping pong . . . oh, sorry." Cassidy said to Garrus, "Its OK Garrus, come here. Garrus, my mom, Hannah Shepard. Mom, Garrus Vakarian." Garrus said "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Ma'am."

Hannah paused for a moment, then said, "I'm delighted to meet you, Garrus. I know you were with Cassidy on the first Normandy." "Yes, Ma'am. I was there when she was first appointed as a Spectre." "I can't take much more time, here, so we should be docking in another hour. Will you be able to come to the Citadel in the next day or two?" "As it so happens, Mom, we're going to lay-in there for ship upgrades. We should be docking tonight." "Excellent! I expect to see you both for lunch tomorrow. You choose where we'll eat and let me know. Orizaba out."

Garrus looked at Cassidy. "I can see where you get your ease of command."

Cassidy smiled a bit. "Garrus, when we go have lunch with my mom tomorrow, I should tell you, she has some pretty strong opinions."

"That's not surprising Cassidy. I would worry if she didn't."

"No, what I mean is, she's very clear on how she thinks committed relationships in military service should be."

"What, do you mean she is going to be angry about you and me?"

"No. She knows that you were with me on the first Normandy. She knows that I would not let anyone walk uninvited into by cabin, calling me by my first name, unless I had invited said person to live with me. She knows that I would not invite someone to live with me unless I was seriously emotionally committed. So, she is going to strongly suggest that we get married, right away. She says that spouses get treated exponentially better by the brass than live-in partners do. She wishes that my dad had not delayed their marriage."

Garrus rocked back a bit. "Cassidy, I ..."

"We don't have to do anything about it, beyond listen to what she says."

"No, what I mean is, I would be thrilled to … make our relationship official. I just had not gotten there quite yet, you know what I mean? It takes time to get these things done in turian families and I imagine a human wedding also takes time to plan, yes?"

Cassidy cleared her throat. She leaned over and kissed him. "I am so happy you want to be with me as family, because I want the same thing." She blushed a bit. "I tend to agree with her on the advantages of the sanctioned relationship being recognized by the brass, though. Let's think for a minute. What if we did a private ceremony at . . ." she pulled up the extranet "The asari Tevura temple does intimate ceremonies on a walk-in basis. We won't have to let anyone know, except registering it with our employers, assuming we live through this and go back to Spectre / Alliance approved activities. Then, when we have blown the Reapers to smithereens, then we can let our families plan something fancy. Just thinking out loud there. What do you think?"

Garrus said "EDI, tell Jacob in the cargo bay to go on with the ping pong tournament without us." "Yes, Officer Vakarian."

Garrus pulled up his omni-tool, placing a com request. "Palaven. Garlin Vakarian." He hugged her. "I'm going to make the opening move to let me family know, otherwise I'd never hear the end of it if somehow someone saw the marriage record and let the info slip in a conversation." His face lit up. "Yes, Cassidy, I will marry you, tomorrow on the Citadel. As far as I'm concerned, we can tell the galaxy."

The omni-tool flashed and a gruffer version of Garrus' voice sounded. "Garrus! Its been too long, son. Is it true that you are working with that human extremist group, Cerberus? (In the background a higher voice said "Father!") I apologize. You didn't call to have me yell at you. So, why did you call?"

"Sir, I'm sorry I have been distant. I am calling to announce to you that I am taking a mate in a civil union, and formally requesting to bring her into the family at a future time." "Who are you taking as mate, Garrus? There's been no hint, unless . . . not that Spectre, Shepard?" "Yes, sir. Council Spectre, Alliance Commander, on detached duty, Cassidy Shepard."

"I see. Well, the next step can occur when I meet her in person. When is this civil ceremony going to take place?" "Citadel, Tevura Temple, probably within 36 hours. Sir." "I'm sorry we won't be there. I know the temple, it a beautiful space. You know that we can't leave your mother. Congratulations, son. Garlin Vakarian out."

Cassidy asked, "What was that about your mother?" "She is terminally ill, Cassidy. My dad and my sister take turns caring for her along with other family members." "I'm sorry. How long does she have? We will probably have her for another few months, according to Solana." "Solana is your sister?" "Yes. She and I occasionally have text conversations."

EDI said, "Shepard, Ms Chambers suggests that you go see Jack at your earliest convenience."

"I'll be right down, EDI. Garrus, I'm going to make an announcement at lunch in the mess." She kissed him and went to talk to Jack.

–

After an intense session with Jack, Cassidy went up into Engineering and went to Tali. "Shepard! What can I do for you?" "Hey,Tali. How are you doing?" "Not too bad, considering. My father wasn't around much, so not having him around is not really all that different, you know what I mean? I miss being able to contact him, to hear his voice, though. It hurts, but work helps." "I'd like you to take lunch up in the mess today, OK?" "Sure, what's going on?" "You'll see."

Cassidy then went to Kasumi. "Ah there you are, Shepard! You look like the cat that just ate the canary. You are bursting with good news. So, out with it!" "Just come have lunch in the mess today, OK?" "Oh, you won't give me an advance copy, pleeeeeese." Cassidy smiled and went out the door, and down to Samara's room.

"Shepard, I am glad for your company. What brings you to me?" "I'd like for you to take lunch with all of us in the mess today, if you will." "Intriguing. You have good news to impart. I will be there."

She then went to Dr Chakwas. "Shepard. I just had a conversation with your mom. She grilled me about Garrus. I think I was able to reassure her about him. You are going to have an interesting lunch with her tomorrow, I'm sure." "Well, I'm anticipating her." "Anticipating her? . . . You've proposed to Garrus? And he accepted? Oh, that's wonderful." Dr Chakwas came and wrapped Cassidy in a big hug and kissed her on the cheek. "I hope you don't mind, but I feel sometimes like you are mine, as well as your mom's, and right now I'm feeling like I'm going to gain the best son-in-law." "I'm glad you feel that way. You've been my mom when she couldn't be there, so that's all to the good. I'm going to announce it to the crew at lunch." "Well, since I'm in the know, I'll stay here and leave space at the table for someone who doesn't know."

–

The mess was standing room only when lunch rolled around. Cassidy took Garrus' hand and stood. "It is my priviledge to announce to you all that Garrus and I " She looked at him and he finished, "have agreed to make our union legal in a civil ceremony, tomorrow on the Citadel." The room burst in applause and cheers. Mess Sergeant Gardnet came around with a tray of cups of champagne, a couple of them red. When the tray was empty, Tali stood up. "To my two dearest friends. Your union brings me joy. May you share in that joy all your lives. Keelah se'lai". Everybody drank.

"Thank you, Tali. Now when we dock at the Citadel, please, you know nothing about this. We will have a big family ceremony sometime in the future, and that can go on the newsnets, but this one is meant to be a private civil ceremony and I don't want pics plastered all over the extranet. So say nothing of this to anybody, so people like Ms al-Jilani will be none the wiser." Miranda added, "If word of this does get out, I will find out who is the leak." She gave a meaningful look around.

Lunch conversations were animated. Nearly all of the women came by to offer congratulations. The men nearest Garrus shook his hand. Finally everyone drifted back to duty or their own activities. Jacob hung back, "So, now will you two come play ping pong?" Cassidy laughed and agreed.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The Normandy docked at the shipyards of the Citadel around 2300. Cassidy stood by the airlock as the crew filed by with their duffel bags, giving their departing salutes. Garrus brought up the end of the line, carrying both of their duffels. "I have a cab waiting for us." he said. Cassidy turned to Miranda and Joker in the cockpit. "Let me know if any issues come up with the upgrades. The Normandy is yours, Miranda." Miranda saluted.

They found their cab, which took them to a hotel on the Presidium. Once they were in their room, Cassidy turned to Garrus and took his hands. She started pulling him back toward the bedroom, saying "Please allow me to demonstrate to you just how happy I am."

–

She woke up to the smell of breakfast. Garrus was bringing in a cart with a puzzled air to his demeanor. "I see you are awake. There is a card here from whoever sent this in for us. Shall I open it?" "Yes, please." He read the card, "A romantic morning to yourselves. Love, Kasumi." "O that's sweet!" said Cassidy. She got up and put a robe on. Her dishes were marked with blueberries around the edges, his with something red she didn't recognize. She brought hers over to one side of the table and took off the cover – crepes in maple syrup, bacon, hash browns, yogurt fruit parfait, orange juice. Garrus seemed to be particularly enjoying his as well.

When she proclaimed herself stuffed, he got up and came around the table. He took her hand and she stood. He purred, pulling the sash off of her robe, placing his hands on her waist inside the robe. "Now it is my turn to show you just how happy I am."

–

Captain Hannah Shepard was waiting at "The Intersection", an asari restaurant that Garrus had recommended. Cassidy went up to her and hugged her, "Hi Mom. Its good to see you again." Hannah turned to Garrus, turning his proffered hand into a hug. "Good to see you in person, Garrus." They went into the restaurant.

Hannah started the conversation, "So, I had a nice conversation with Karin. She told me a great deal about you, Garrus." "Dr Chakwas is very knowledgable of turian medicine. I like her." he said. She turned to Cassidy, "I have a feeling that you know what I want to say to you both." "Yes, Mom. In fact, I agree with your feelings, and I told Garrus yesterday after you called." Garrus said, "I was a bit surprised, but it makes sense for a couple that is beyond infatuation and is in fact deeply committed." Cassidy continued, "So, we decided to have a civil ceremony this afternoon at the Tevura temple. They take walk-ins."

Hannah grinned. "I had a feeling it was like this when I saw the two of you walk up. So, you're thinking of the civil ceremony today and then what - a big affair later, after your mission?" Cassidy answered, "Maybe two big affairs later, depending on how it goes with Garrus' family." Garrus added, "I let my father know about the civil ceremony and I asked for a formal family affair later. He could refuse, but in the end I think he'll let it happen." The server dropped off a basket of bread, goblets of water, and their menus.

Garrus' omni-tool beeped. He glanced at it and said "Its Soldana, my sister. Do you mind if I take it here?" Hannah said, "Please take it. Tell her she's welcome to join us if she's on the Citadel." He accepted the com request. "Soldana! How are you?" "Its more like, where are you, Garrus? I just docked onto the Citadel. I want to be there for your ceremony." "Come to the Presidium. The restaurant is called "The Intersection", we just got our menus. Should I pick something for you? Cassidy's mother says you are welcome at our table."

Garrus talked about his family while they waited for Soldana. Soldana came up and Garrus introduced her to Cassidy and Hannah. Soldana sat down, "I was so mad at our father for saying that none of us could come yesterday. I called a couple of our aunts and they readily agreed to fill in for me with mom. So I hopped the quickest ship to the Citadel I could. Mom sends her love to you both and says she's happy for you, Garrus."

They continued talking through lunch. Cassidy liked Soldana immediately. When they finished, Hannah said "While we were talking I got us a room for the wedding at the Tevura temple in two hours. Soldana, will you take Garrus, while I take Cassidy. We'll meet you at the temple in two hours." Soldana's face brightened, "Gladly."

"What's going on, Mom?" "You can't deny me a little bit of planning, dear." Hannah punched in a destination and their cab rose into the traffic. "So, where are we going now?" "Dress, hair, nails and flowers." "Oh."

They settled on a satin shoulder-less number with lace panel insets at the waist and a lace jacket over the top. A tiara and veil were added. They went next door to get hair and nails done while the alterations to the dress were made. After they collected the dress, they went to a florist and Cassidy found a simple orchid based bouquet, which they quickly converted to a bridal carrier. They arrived at the temple with about 20 minutes to spare. The attendant outside directed them to a room and showed them into the attached changing room. Once Cassidy was ready, Hannah directed her to wait and then went out.

Hannah returned a few minutes later. She handed Cassidy a necklace, "You are borrowing this from Karin. You can return it on the ship, later." Then she handed Cassidy a box, which had blue sapphire earrings. "These were my mother's. They are yours now." Cassidy whispered, "Grandma Florence" and put them into her ears, dropping the box into the bag with the clothing she had worn to lunch. "Now take your left shoe off" and Cassidy did. Hannah dropped an old silver coin into the shoe. "There. You're all set." She took Cassidy's face in her hands and kissed her forehead. "You look so beautiful. Let me take an image in here before the ceremony starts." "Oh, one more thing, I almost forgot." She took the chain off her neck that held her dog tags and took off a ring that was on there. "Here, this was the ring I gave your dad. I had it re-worked to a typical turian size. If it doesn't fit, you can have it reworked again." "Wait, when did you have his ring reworked?" "Last night. I told you I had a feeling." Cassidy placed the ring onto the clip on the bottom of the bouquet carrier.

She heard soft music start up in the other room. Hannah said, "I think that's our cue. I'll go first, then you." Hannah stepped through the doors, but shut them behind her. Cassidy was about to open the doors herself, when they were opened from the other side.

The first thing she noticed was that there were a lot of people in the room, on folding chairs looking back at her. Up the aisle in between she saw Tali and Solana standing on either side of Councilor Anderson. Anderson looked to the side and she followed his glance to see Garrus, over by a flowering bush, staring at her. Garrus walked to the center and stood tall in an elegant looking black outfit. Someone cleared his throat and she turned to see Admiral Hackett. He offered his arm to her. Once she took his arm, everyone stood.

As Hackett led her up the aisle, she nodded at her crew, a friend from high school, a few Alliance friends from the Academy. She saw several turian C-Sec officers. Her mother was in the front row, and a blue-painted turian male was across from her. They got up to Garrus and Hackett handed her hands into his. They turned to face Anderson.

"Friends and family, we are gathered here to witness the civil union of this woman and this man that stand before us. Do you, Cassidy Florence Krueger Shepard, take Garrus Vakarian to be your lawfully wedded spouse?" She said, loudly and clearly, "I do." "Do you, Garrus Vakarian, take Cassidy Florence Krueger Shepard to be your lawfully wedded spouse." He cleared his throat and rasped out "I do."

"Cassidy, do you have a token of your bond to give?" She unclipped the ring from under her bouquet and then handed the bouquet to Tali. She took Garrus' left hand and slipped the ring onto it – it went on easily. "With this ring, I promise to share my life with you, forsaking all others, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, so long as we both shall live. I love you with all my heart."

"Garrus, do you have a token of your bond to give?" He turned and Solana handed him a ring. He took her hand and looked at her with a question in his eyes. She lifted her left ring finger and he slid the ring onto it. "With this ring, I take you as my one and only partner in life, so long as we both shall live. I love you."

"Having heard your acceptance to be bound in civil union, in my authority as Citadel Councilor, I declare you married. Garrus, you may kiss your bride." Garrus, still holding hands with her, took one hand to sweep her veil up and over, then leaned down and kissed her.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the galaxy's latest married couple, Cassidy and Garrus." The room erupted in thunderous applause. Now please line up to my left over by the windows, so the attendants may rearrange the room for light refreshments and dancing, courtesy of Captain Hannah Shepard." Cassidy stood next to Garrus and hugged one after another of all their guests.

When that was done, Cassidy alerted the ladies and turned around to throw her bouquet back at them. One of the Normandy crew caught it. The one that's maybe pregnant? Cassidy wondered.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent going around and talking to various people.

"Mom, how did you find all these people?" "Mostly it was Anderson and Udina. They knew which of your old friends were on the Citadel today."

"Garrus, who is this that stood for your family?" "Cousin Patrus, recently assigned to C-Sec." "Nice to meet you, Patrus."

"Oh, Anderson, thank you for officiating the ceremony at no notice." "My real pleasure, Shepard. Here, you and Garrus need to sign this for the official record." They each signed, noting that Tali's and Solana's signatures were already there. "Did my mom call you?" "Actually, it was Dr Chakwas last night and then your mom had contacted Hackett who happens to be on the Citadel today and he called me, too."

"Admiral, that was very sweet of you to take my father's place. I appreciate it." "Least I could do in his memory, Shepard. You are most welcome."

"Miranda, glad you came." "EDI has the ship in lockdown, nobody but you or I can board. They're working on the armor, so they don't need to board today anyway."

"Zaeed, Joker." Joker said, "Very traditional, Commander. You just remember the traditional vows off the top of your head?" "If you watch enough of the sappy romance movies with friends in the Academy, the words get drilled into your memory." she replied. "Very nice. Congratulations, Shepard, Garrus." said Zaeed.

"Kasumi, the breakfast this morning was very sweet. Thank you!" "Oh I thought you might like that. My pleasure. Garrus, I hope yours was OK. I just asked the concierge to order something traditionally decadent for you." "It was perfect, Kasumi. Thanks."

Eventually Cassidy and Garrus were left with Dr Chakwas, Hannah Shepard, Solana and Patrus.

"Mom, Dr Chakwas. It was much more than I was expecting, and it was perfect. Thank you! Now, get your pics before I get out of this dress." Cassidy and Garrus stood in front of the arch covered in flowering vines and let the women take pics with various groupings.

Hannah checked her omni-tool. "Sorry to leave you now, dear, but I need to get to my ship so we can get her ready for departure." Cassidy hugged Hannah. Hannah hugged Garrus and Dr Chakwas, then walked out the door. Patrus did a stiff shallow bow to everyone and took his leave. Dr Chakwas said "Shepard, let me take your dress, tiara, veil and shoes and I'll turn them in for the deposit for you." So Cassidy and Dr Chakwas went into the changing room.

Garrus looked over at Solana. "I'm glad you looked up about a ring, Sol. Thanks. What did you think of all this?" "It seemed functional and romantic all at the same time. It was very much like what I saw on the extranet. Not nearly as fancy as such things can get, but it was rather last minute." Solana produced a document with the Turian Heirarchy stamp on it. "You sign there, that's where she will sign. I sign there and Tali'Zorah already signed."

Cassidy came back out, dressed in her custom fatigues. "Much more comfortable, now." she commented. Garrus said "We need you to sign the turian record, Cassidy. Use your ranks."

The attendants were coming in to start cleaning. So they said their good-byes and went back to the hotel. Thane and Grunt were sitting outside their room. "Dr Chakwas told us it was traditional to guard the bridal chamber until the couple returned. We're just the latest shift. Goodnight and congratulations." said Thane.

They went into their room and didn't come out for over a day, a few hours before the Normandy was ready for re-boarding.

"Thane's message asked us to meet him outside C-Sec." "Here's a cab. Let's go."

–

Sometimes its good to be a Spectre,.Cassidy thought. Kellham's advocate told him to talk, there was nothing he could do about it. Bailey was good about not sending Kolyat into the system. Thane was thankful.

"Let's go get our ship out of the docks." said Cassidy.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Save your anger for the Collectors!" Cassidy growled at Miranda and Jack. She had a backlash-headache from readying her biotics but holding back.

She walked out of Miranda's office, and found Garrus there, waiting. He took a look at the strain on her face and asked quietly, "We could get the mats out in the cargo bay, do some sparring?" She nodded her head and headed to the elevator to go change into workout clothes.

He had the advantage, when she left her biotics in abeyance. But she didn't stint and after a while she was covered in sweat and breathing hard. She signaled a stop and sat down on the mat next to him where he had fallen from her throw. She put her head between her knees, elbows on her knees, hands out in front, letting her breathing slow along with her heart rate. He turned onto his side, rising up on an elbow, trying to gauge her mood. He placed a hand around her back to rest on her waist, as a question.

She turned her head to the side and looked at him. She rose fluidly, taking his hand on her waist and using it to get him to stand. She went to grab on end of the mat and he went to the other and helped her put them away. Then she took his hand and walked briskly to the elevator. They rode it all the way to their cabin and she pulled him inside and into the shower. She turned the water on and reached up to hold the sides of his head while she kissed him urgently, twining her tongue with his. They got their clothes off, awkwardly as they were heavy with water. She reached down and found his cock out and ready. She stroked it a few times, then said, "Lift me up, against the wall." He lifted her and leaned her against the wall, then he entered her, tentatively, but she glared at him and said, "Don't go easy. I need you." So he let her dip onto him a little, while he pushed up into her and she said, "Better, more." "Just a moment, let me turn you." He got a hand under one of her feet and helped her turn around, then set her feet down. Now he had leverage. He grabbed her hips and he began pushing, adding a little more and more force to each thrust until she said, "Yes, there, good. . .mmm" After a bit, he pulled her backward and down with him as he sat with his back to the wall. She turned to face him and rode him 'til her vision exploded in light. She stopped and leaned in to kiss him, gently.

She got up, and turned to sit next to him. She was tingling all over. "I think I'll stay here for awhile." He reached up and turned the water off, since it was starting to cool off. The room was filled with water vapor. It reminded her of the sauna she had used after swimming classes in high school. He asked "Shall I get our dinners, or do you want me to stay for a bit yet?" "You have energy left?" "Not really, but I hear your stomach rumbling and I think mine agrees." She let him get up, then reached up to let him help her up.

Cassidy was dressed, reading her messages when Garrus returned with their dinner trays. She had beef stew, with warm rye mini-loaf, peas, and a waldorf dessert. She took her time, enjoying the tastes. "Anything interesting in the messages?" he asked. "One of the Cerberus projects, called Firewalker, has lost a ship and a couple of their scientists. They say there may be a salvageable hover vehicle at the crash site. Mordin says he will run short of mineral resources before he gets through all the research ideas we've given him. So, I think we'll conduct our search for Firewalker and for our resources in a concurrent fashion. Also, Aria has forwarded me some coordinates for a supply cache that she says is in return for me helping her when we were on Omega. So, we'll go collect those as well." "Sounds like a plan."

–

They collected the supplies in the morning, but got only 15 of the 20 crates. Aria hadn't mentioned the heavy mech would try to destroy the supplies. But there were some weapons, some extras like scopes and thermal clips, some armor, omni-tools, mechanical tools, medicines, oxygen tanks and such. She directed that the crates be stacked in the cargo bay until the most usable items were transferred to the appropriate areas of the ship.

The afternoon was scanning for minerals. Garrus spent his time in the main battery. Cassidy spent hers directing the unloading of the crates.

–

The next morning they went and recovered the M-44 Hammerhead. The remaining items that were left in the crates were stacked in the center so the Hammerhead would have room to land. The hover controls had taken some getting used to, but Cassidy liked the maneuverability of it. Now this meant that she could transport more people at once if need be.

Then they traveled over to one of the sites where Drs Cayce and O'Loy might be found. During the travel time, Garrus went over the Hammerhead carefully along with a couple of the mechanical techs. He made note of the parts that looked to wear out sooner rather than later and took those measurements to see if he could fabricate replacements.

At the first site, they were up against geth. Shooting the geth from varying heights was fun, but the light shielding was not. She quickly learned that she would need to pop in and out of cover in order to keep the ship intact.

They were headed to a second site that evening, but once they popped out of the relay, EDI informed them of a distress signal from a nearby system being relayed throughout the cluster. So they went and Cassidy rebooted the shield generator for the planet.

–

They arrived at the second site and found it to be volcanically active. Joker said, "Commander, this Normandy is not equipped to deal with exploding volcanos either, so be careful down there. You'll have to boost the Hammerhead from as high as you can so we can limit how far down the Normandy gets." "I hear you, Joker. Up high is where I'll get before we return."

–

At lunch, Tali joined Cassidy, "Well, I think lava is beautiful, but being down among the flows nearly overtaxed mine and the Hammerhead's cooling systems. I like being able to say I did that, but I never want to do it again."

While Cassidy understood Tali's point of view, she missed Ashley, who would have been as exhilarated by the experience as Cassidy had been.

Her omni-tool beeped. Anderson was passing on a report from a materials transport company. They had landed at a mining operation, expecting to pick up a load, but there was no load and nobody answered their hails. The crew of the transport had not explored the mine. Anderson attached a note asking if she could go investigate. She typed back an assent.

–

That afternoon they found both Drs Cayce and O'Loy, and a Prothean sphere. She made sure that whatever data had been recovered by EDI was copied to OSD.

She went to her mission board and put notes up about the Collectors and Geth trying to get at this relic. She wondered where Dr O'Loy had encountered the Collectors. She wondered what had been trying to get into Dr Cayce's mind – Prothean data from the sphere, or had he come in contact with a Reaper artifact somewhere?

She went back to her cabin and checked her messages again. The Illusive Man had forwarded an intercepted transmission that he thought Liara would be interested in, since she was hunting for Feron. Cassidy closed the com panel and thought. If Cerberus wanted Liara to see this, then maybe Cerberus wanted to use Liara's contacts to help Cerberus get more on the Shadow Broker. She had no love for the Shadow Broker either, he had after all tried to sell her body to the Collectors. But she thought this stale mate between the Shadow Broker and Cerberus was probably better than one or the getting an upper hand. She would have to consult Liara about this, but not from this ship.

Garrus came in with the dinner trays. She pushed Liara to the back of her mind and focused on enjoying her time with her husband (it really felt odd calling him that, even in her thoughts).

–

At breakfast, Cassidy asked Miranda, "What do you know about this info that Cerberus wants me to pass to Liara?" "Shepard, all that I know is that I'm supposed to facilitate any efforts you want to make toward meeting with Liara." "Miranda, I am of two minds about this. So, we are going to go to Illium, but I don't know what she and I are going to do about it. It may take some time for us to chase down whatever leads, so the crew can have 48 hours leave." "Understood, Shepard."

–

As the Normandy was heading toward the relay system of the cluster they were in, EDI notified Cassidy, "Shepard, I am picking up a faint, intermittent signal from the nearby Sheol system. It most closely matches a quarian communications format. Shall I patch it to Tali'Zorah?" "Yes, do. Joker take us closer to the Sheol system, see if we can get a stonger signal." Cassidy went down to Engineering. "Anything we need to know, Tali?" "Shepard, its a locator beacon for a downed scout ship. Can we go see if there are survivors?" "Joker, its a quarian distress beacon, go find it."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

They arrived at Illium in time for a late lunch. Cassidy messaged Liara and suggested a lunch with Garrus and Tali, wherever Liara wanted to go. They joined Liara in a cab at the docks. The restaurant this time was a wharf-side place overlooking a lake. Cassidy led them to a table out by the railing. Once they entered their choices on the pop-up menus, Cassidy signaled to Tali to put a small jamming field.

Liara said, "I know that signal, Shepard. Is something going on?" Cassidy handed the datapad to Liara, "Keep in mind that the Illusive Man wants you to see this info." Liara started looking over the info, "Goddess, its about Feron! But, you're right, we need to think about why the Illusive Man is passing this to me. Do you think he may have fabricated this?" "I don't know. I do think that he wants access into the Shadow Broker's organization, even to take it over if he has the chance. I don't think we should help him get that chance, do you?" "So, you think he wants me to see this so I will fit this info with my connections and possibly get to rescue Feron and he wants to come along for the ride?" "Yes, that's my read on this. So, if we do need to go off planet somewhere, we can't take the Normandy." "Yes, I can see that. Give me some time to do some research and to think what to do." The server was approaching, so Liara signaled Tali to drop the jamming.

As they finished eating, Liara said, "I recently moved to a bigger apartment. To have more room for some more of my Prothean artifacts put on display. I ordered some more display cases and they wouldn't fit in my old place. Why don't you all come to my place later, I want a chance to clean up first. There's a huge electronics market just down the block, you could check that out while I head out. See you in a couple hours, OK?" "OK, Liara, see you later."

They went down the block in the direction Liara had indicated and found the market. Tali and Garrus expressed enthusiasm. "Like kids in a candy store." said Cassidy and followed them inside. They wandered all over the market, occasionally looking carefully over the specs of something or other. While Tali was absorbed in something, Cassidy asked Garrus, "What ever happened to that thermal system you were cobbling together for your armor?" "Oh, yea. Well, when I had down time in those first couple months in Spectre training, while you were geth hunting, I worked up a full prototype, formalized the plans and presented it to an R&D rep from Cipritine Armor. A few days later, I got an offer from them to buy it and so I sold it. It was a substantial payment, which I ended up using to get set up on Omega."

They left the market after about an hour and a half. Tali and Garrus had made a few small purchases each.

There was a cab nearby which they took to Liara's apartment.

–

"I gave them a gold star for finding the bullet holes." said Tela Vasir. Cassidy typed a quick message to Garrus "She legit?" Garrus went into the kitchen, out of Vasir's sight and pulled up the extranet on his omni-tool. After a bit, she got a message back. "ID confirmed."

Cassidy went upstairs and found the bedside picture. Vasir came right up behind Cassidy as she was looking and it shifted. They went to look at the Prothean displays. Cassidy asked, "So, why are you here?" "I'm supposed to be on leave, but when a matriarch says go check that out, I do." "A matriarch was keeping tabs on Liara's apartment?" "Probably keeping tabs on police calls and heard T'Soni's name. She's gotta know the matriarchs are keeping tabs on her personally, she's that big of an information broker." Vasir was keeping Cassidy in sight. So when the drawer popped open with the data disc, Vasir saw it.

They played the call, then got in Vasir's car to go to the Dracon Trade Center. When the three floors of the building exploded, Garrus said "Spirits!" "Ancestors!" said Tali. "Liara's in there" cried Cassidy.

–

"Don't you judge me." said Vasir as her last words. Cassidy turned to Liara. "We need to get somewhere secure enough to look at what Sekat left for you on that data disc." Liara said, "Come on, this way." Liara led them back out to one of the troop transports. She got in and put her omni-tool up to the dash, motioning them to get in. She started it and drove to the wharf area. They got out and went out to a park bench. Tali put up the jamming field then Liara streamed the data disc to her omni-tool and they listened to Sekat's message.

"So, this gives us where to go. But now we need a how to go." said Cassidy. Liara pulled up her omni-tool and started a search. "Here, I've got the location of where that troop transport came from. Now, I look at ships at docks connected to there, if any . . . OK, Shepard would you ask one of your infiltration specialists to meet us here with a cab." Cassidy texted Kasumi.

"What's your idea, Liara?" asked Cassidy. "Those ships at those docks are registered to a company that I know is controlled by the Shadow Broker. If we commandeer one of those, we should be able to get close enough to this location to get in, get Feron, and get out. And kill anyone who gets in our way."

A cab pulled up, Kasumi and Thane inside. Liara gestured at Thane and looked at Cassidy. Cassidy shrugged and said "Someone to cover us from the shadows." They crowded into the cab and it dropped them outside a secured warehouse.

Kasumi pushed her omni-tool to the door and soon, it opened. She motioned for them to stay and she went in. After a few minutes, she came back and held the door open for them. "There are more troop transports in here. There are two small frigates out the other side. The guards watching the area are not watching anymore." They all went in. When they got to the other side of the warehouse, Cassidy looked out a small window at the two ships. One was buttoned tight, the other had its door open, gangway down and interior lights on.

Cassidy texted Kasumi to see if she could open the closed ship. She had Thane position himself inside the door to cover Kasumi. It seemed like forever, but the gangway came down. Cassidy motioned everyone to follow her. She stood up and walked out like she belonged there. There was no indication of any notice from anywhere. They went up the gangway.

Kasumi was at the flight controls. She said, "It seems to be fully fueled. Info specialist, please instruct the VI as to where the Shadow Broker would like us to go. Commander, the ship is yours." Cassidy said, "VI, confirm autopilot flight plan to coordinates given." The VI replied after a brief delay, "Autopilot flight plan confirmed. Please state departure time." "Immediate departure upon confirmed flight systems check." "Flight systems confirmed. Departing." And the mass effect engine engaged, the thrusters lifted them off planet. "VI, give ETA." "ETA in 6 hours."

Thane came up to the cockpit, "Commander, inspection complete, there's something you need to see." Thane led her down into engineering, opened a door into a crawl space, and motioned toward it. Cassidy didn't need to look to know what was there, the reek of alcohol emanated out of the opening. Cassidy used her omni-tool to shine a low light into the opening. There was a pair of humans, intertwined naked, unconscious. She looked to be late teens maybe early twenties. He had gray in his hair and beard. Thane said, "I checked their omni-tools. She is Tabitha Vance, a flight engineer, and he is Derrik Carter, a pilot. His omni-tool has a list of ID passphrases." Cassidy looked at the list, asked "What is this column of numbers?" "It may be some way to reference which base needs which passcode." "Copy this file to the info specialist and our temporary pilot. They might be able to help."

"Garrus, come to engineering. We have some cargo to move." They moved the girl into the shower area of the women's restroom, cuffing her to a stability bar there. They did the same to the man. "VI, notify me when either of them opens their eyes."

After three hours, the VI came on "Mr Carter has opened his eyes, Commander." She got up and Garrus stepped in behind her. She went into the room. Carter looked blearily at her. "Wha . . What's going on?" Cassidy crossed her arms, "Using company property for personal use. Unfortunately for you, we got called on a mission, but you two weren't ready." "Oh, ah, wherrrmy clothes?" "In engineering, where you left them." "Shit. Uh, where's Tabby?" "Somewhere else." "Whats, uh, whatcha gonna do with us?" "Leave you here, until the Shadow Broker tells me what he wants done with you." "Oh, no, no, I gotta, we need ta be, on Illium. On standby, on Illium." "Like I said, we'll do what the Shadow Broker wants to do."

She motioned Garrus out the door. "He secure enough there?" "Not foolproof, but reasonably so. What's on your mind?" "Our quarry has to be extremely security conscious. I'm thinking that if Carter was on standby then it might need his voice to speak the passphrase from this ship. I think we need to convince him to do his damn job, so we need to put a backdated mission brief on his omni-tool." "I think our info specialist can manufacture a proper mission brief. He can't do the passphrase while still hungover, his voice won't register properly. Maybe there are some stims in the med bay." "OK, I'll talk to the info specialist, you find the stims and convince him to save his butt by doing his job."

She texted Thane, Liara, and Tali to meet in the captains quarters. On Cassidy's signal, Tali put up the jamming signal. "OK, Thane . . you, Liara and Tali need to get a backdated mission brief from the proper authority directing the pilot to take this team to these coordinates, onto his omni-tool. We're going to remain silent about the pilot and engineers' indiscretions, if he will do his job and speak the proper passcode when we're challenged, in other words, do his job."

Cassidy left them to it. She went to find Garrus, where he was with Carter. "Is he sober enough to do his job?" she asked when she came in the door. Carter was sitting up, a cup in his hand. "A stim and some stale coffee, Commander. He's a bit more focused now." "Did you explain the deal?" Carter spoke up "I'll need my omni-tool and to get dressed, but I'll do my job, I swear I'll get you onto the hull like I'm supposed to. I'll wait where I'm supposed to, to see if the Broker needs me to take anything back." "Alright, we'll unhook you when its time. Give you as much time to sober up as possible." She walked out and Garrus followed her out.

With 40 minutes to go, Cassidy got a text that Carter's omni-tool was ready. Garrus collected the omni-tool and Carter's clothes, went in and tossed the stuff at Carter's feet then unhooked him.

With 25 minutes to go, Carter came to the cockpit and Kasumi got up to let him sit in the pilot's seat. He checked with the VI about various things and said "you came on auto-pilot all the way here?" "You weren't functional, now were you?" snarled Cassidy. "Right, Commander, um, right. Do my job. That's what I'm here for."

With 10 minutes to go, a preliminary challenge came on the com. Carter answered with the mission code. There was some confusion on the other end and Carter opened his omni-tool and read off mission brief and directed the VI to tight beam the IFF. At 2 minutes out, another challenge came and Carter spoke one of the passphrases off the list.

They went into a tremendous thunderstorm and landed on the hull of the Shadow Broker's base. Cassidy led her team onto the hull and started working their way forward.

–

The yahg that was the Shadow Broker broke his desk down the middle and threw half of it, sending Garrus to the floor underneath. "None of you are leaving here alive today, not you T'Soni, not the Commander and not her husband!" Cassidy momentarily felt the same panic as she had on Omega when he had taken that rocket. Then she turned it to anger and sent Liara to one side while she went to the other. Kasumi was somewhere in the room. Whichever one he was shooting at, he was leaving his back exposed to the other. They took down his shields and armor, once, twice and the third time when Liara brought the kinetic shield generator crashing down on him from the ceiling.

Cassidy biotically lifted the desk piece off of Garrus and ran over. He was breathing, he was coming around. He focused on her face and she smiled. She got up and helped him up. Then she went over and checked the yahg for any signs of regeneration, like a krogan would. But no, there was no sign of life. She lifted the desk piece again, sending it crashing down into the yahg, crushing his head between the desk and the floor. Garrus came up and put his hands on her shoulders from behind, kissed the back of her head. They walked over to Liara who had sent her orders out as the new Shadow Broker.

Cassidy reached into her armor and brought out an OSD and handed it to Liara. "Its got a vid of our wedding and a pic that Patrus took of me, Garrus, Solana and my mom. I meant to give this to you earlier today." "I understand why you did it last minute while your mom was there with you. But, " she fixed Garrus with a hard stare "I absolutely intend to be at your family ceremony."

Cassidy hugged Liara, "I can't bring the Normandy until we're no longer under the watchful gaze of the Illusive Man." "Is there something in there where you can give us Shadow Broker agent credentials?" Liara did some searching and then forwarded some encry[ted files to Cassidy, Garrus, Thane, Kasumi and Tali. "There, and I've instructed Carter to return you all to Illium." "You want us to do anything with your apartment or office?" "No, I think I'll leave it all as if I went missing. I'll send some agents in to 'confiscate' whatever I want out of there."

They left. Carter nodded at each of them as they boarded. Cassidy and Garrus slept all the way back to Illium.

–

Cassidy booked some time at a spa during the remainder of the shore leave she had given the crew. She got massaged, mud-bathed, oiled, buffed, pedicured and manicured. She had the most delicious lunch in there of various asari fruits, nuts, greens and bread. She inquired as to the names of each item and ordered cases of them to be delivered to the Normandy.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

They were on their way to visit the mine that Anderson had asked her to investigate. At the morning meeting, Miranda carefully did not ask about any of the strange news she had heard on the Illium newsnet over the shore leave. Nor did she inquire anything about Liara beyond "Did you pass the data to her?" Cassidy affirmed that she had.

–

Husks, husks, and more husks. When they finally dispatched the last one, Cassidy placed and detonated the explosives around the Reaper artifact as quickly and from as far away as she could.

–

She was at lunch in the mess hall, describing the joys of the spa to Kasumi and Kelly. She got a ping on her omni-tool, text message to contact the Illusive Man as soon as it was convenient. She finished her lunch and went up to the debriefing room.

The Illusive Man studied her for a moment before beginning, "We have intercepted some Blood Pack communications. I'm sending some coordinates for a base we have determined." "What else? You would've sent that via message if that was all." "Yes, there's more. My information network is still scouring for a way to get safely through the Omega 4 relay. If I could tap in to the Shadow Broker's network, I would have a much wider net to scan. With that in mind, what happened when you gave Dr T'Soni the data I sent you?"

"She went to her apartment, we were to meet her there later." "Yes, I know about the rifle shots at her apartment. I know you went to the Dracon Trade Center. I know that you chased Tela Vasir's car to Azure, where you rescued a hostage, fought Shadow Broker forces, and took out Vasir. What happened after that?"

"We parted ways and she wished me luck on taking out the Collectors. I enjoyed the rest of my personal time." "I see that you want to protect her. I will find out one way or the other." He cut the connection.

–

They took out the first Blood Pack base just before dinner. The took out the Blood Pack communications array the next morning.

After lunch, Cassidy checked in with Mordin about the various research projects. "Still have upgrades to research. Will take several more days." They scanned for minerals the rest of that day.

–

At their breakfast meeting, Miranda flicked a switch on her omni-tool and Cassidy got that same odd feeling as she did when Tali put up a jamming field. Miranda said, "Shepard, the Illusive Man has asked EDI to report to me any instances when you discuss your time with Dr T'Soni on Illium with any of the crew on the ship. I know you have not said even as much to anybody onboard as you told him, and frankly I'm of two minds about all this. You don't need to say anything. I didn't say that I would keep this from you, that's all." Miranda turned off the jamming field and they returned to their agenda.

They still needed a bit more mineral resources, so Cassidy let the crew do their jobs. She remembered that she had stopped her martial arts forms at second belt, so she stretched a little and then began the third belt form. She heard the door open, and footsteps come in a couple steps, but she didn't stop. She said "I wouldn't recommend coming all the way in, just yet." and continued into a spinning back roundhouse kick into a spinning butterfly kick, then finished the form with the moves that took her opponent to the floor. She stood, then bowed, then relaxed and turned to Garrus.

"I've never seen you do hand-to-hand forms. Why don't you do them down in the cargo bay where you have room to do the full sets without backing up?" "This is something for me. It keeps me limber, helps me think. I don't want to be on display when I do it. Besides making unscripted adjustments is part of it, don't let the mind slip totally away. Something you wanted in here, now that I'm not taking up all the space in here?" "EDI said that you were occupied so she asked me to come and ask you to check your messages as soon as you finished." She popped up her messages, then sighed, "Another something's gone wrong on a Cerberus project, Overlord, this one's called. Its another 'gone silent'. Joker . . ." "We're underway, Commander."

"What do you think this time, Garrus . . . attack from without . . . like Collectors or geth, or an indoctrinated somebody sabotaged things from within . . . or a reckless somebody built something that's got out of control?" "I guess we'll see. Are you going to return to your forms?" "Maybe, why?" "Do you mind if I stay and watch?" "Stay up there and don't say anything until I'm done."

So she struck the starting position for the fourth belt and began.

–

Cassidy pistol-shipped Gavin Archer across the face. "I know enough to know that he'll never be free from your cruelty here. I'm taking David to Grissom Academy."

–

Cassidy and Garrus ate late that evening. "How could his brother ignore the frantic 'Please, no, make it stop. David doesn't want to be here.' " She shuddered. Garrus moved over next to her and put his arm around her. "He can't hurt David anymore." She tucked her shoulder under his arm and leaned against his chest. "That's all we can do, is find the monsters and make sure they don't hurt anyone anymore." He tilted her chin up and kissed her. "That is what we are doing, standing for those who can't fight back." She leaned into him and returned the kiss, heat rising from her hips. The remains of their dinners were forgotten.

–

Grissom Academy: Cassidy and Kelly escorted David Archer off the shuttle. A pair of people were waiting at the main entry doors. The older one looked like a teacher and the younger one like a student. "Hello David. I'm Professor Hendricks, this is Octavia. Octavia will be a student with you. She will go with you now to show you where everything is and to answer questions if you have them."

–

When Kelly and Cassidy got back on board, EDI informed Cassidy that the Illusive Man would like to speak to her in the debriefing room.

Cassidy stalked back there and enabled the connection. She crossed her arms and stared as the Illusive Man's image came into focus. "Shepard, we've caught a break. We know where there is a Reaper IFF."

–

Another project gone silent. In a dead Reaper. That was keeping itself from being destroyed in the brown dwarf.

At least this mission should bring them closer to being done. She wanted to wipe the Illusive Man off of her shoes. While they traveled to the the brown dwarf, she went down and found Thane and Jacob playing a blindingly fast exchange on the ping pong table. She watched it go back and forth, just catching glimpses of the ball in flight. She saw when Thane caught Jacob getting too far over and slammed the point home in the opposite corner. Thane said "Thank you for the games, Jacob. Shepard, would you care to play?" Jacob handed his paddle to Cassidy and stepped to the side to watch.

Their first few points were simple, testing strengths. Then the pace picked up. Each point stretched. Finally, Cassidy dinked a slow one when Thane was way back from the table. Even so, he almost got there. "Your game, Shepard. Well played." Cassidy said "Thank you for the game." and put her paddle on the table. She looked up to see Garrus standing beside Jacob. "Ready for lunch?" asked Garrus, but the set of his flanges and of his posture were asking "Are you okay?". Cassidy nodded and said "I'm going to go up and take a quick shower. I'll meet you all in the mess."

–

Cassidy and Garrus were eating dinner. She had lamb grape leaves with tabouli, hummus and pita bread. She had a small fruit salad made with the asari fruits she bought on Illium. Garrus finished a bite then asked, "Tell me what you're thinking, why did you activate the geth?" "It was obviously different than all the other geth that have shot at me on sight. Its calling itself Legion, something EDI suggested. Legion shot those husks that had crawled up behind me. It could have taken out any of us at that point. So, I wanted to talk to it." "I hear you, Cassidy. I . . its just so hard to put aside the automatic hate that we . . . I have learned. I don't want to trust it, but I guess we have to give it the chance to earn our trust."

"Well, you still get to hate and shoot the heretics. We're heading to the heretic station tonight." "I'll make sure our weapons are ready to go before we get there."

–

"You re-wrote the heretics?" asked Garrus, his flanges and sub-harmonics screaming 'anxiety'. "I did. If the geth oppose the Reapers, now there's that many more geth to oppose the Reapers. Because, in the end, that's what we're going to need to do is pull together as many allies as possible. So, yes, I told Legion to repurpose the virus to re-write the heretics." She crossed her arms and met his eyes. He said, "I know Tali asked this already, but what if the geth decide to attack. Then there's that many more against us." "Garrus, you know the Reapers turn our own against us. The Collectors were Prothean husks. Should we kill off colonies so as to deny the Reapers the resources for their human husks? We must try to keep as many of us together and fighting the Reapers as we can. We will not do the Reapers work for them."

He looked stricken. He said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean . . . I see your point and I agree. You're right." He walked over and wrapped her in a hug. She relented and uncrossed her arms and hugged him also.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

To conclude the breakfast meeting, Miranda reported, "The crew are prepared to conduct the shakedown run of the new IFF. Meanwhile we can take all the ground team to check out the Blue Sun signals EDI caught coming from the next system over. That way we'll have enough to deal with a fairly large base if we need to." "Alright, I'll meet everyone at the shuttle in 30."

"Joker, the ship is yours. Don't scratch the paint."

–

"I trust EDI, she had plenty of opportunity to kill us if she wanted. We are going to get our people back. We are ready." Cassidy scanned the room and met the eyes of each one. "EDI, ETA to the Omega-4 relay?" "Just over 5 hours, Commander." "Everybody eat and do whatever pre-critical-mission rituals you need to get your head in the right place."

Garrus remained. Cassidy asked, "Something on your mind?" "Cassidy, I . . . I want to talk to my mother and I want to introduce you to her." "I think a call to my mother is also in order, although I can't talk about what happened to Dr Chakwas. Anyway, shall we eat before or after?" "How about we call first and then we can talk about it over our meal."

They went up to their cabin. "EDI, screen down. Transfer visual com signals in this room to the screen until further notice. Garrus, how do you want to appear – sitting next to each other?" "Just me to start, then I'll bring you in." "Garrus, how sick is she?" "Depends. Some days she's lucid and others she's lost in her childhood. We'll see. EDI, com request to Palaven, Garlin Vakarian."

After a few minutes, Garlin face appeared on the screen. "Garrus. How are you?" "Hello, Sir. I would like to speak to mother, if possible." Garlin frowned and turned, "Solana, patch your omni-tool to my com signal. Garrus is on the com." The screen showed a separate pane, now Solana alongside Garlin. "Garrus. Wow, I didn't expect to hear from you so soon." Garrus said, "Solana, is mother up to a conversation?" "Actually, she's having a great day today, so let me walk in here and 'Mom, Garrus is on the com.' "

Solana was now sitting next to a face much like her own, but the eyes were sunken, the plates dull, the muscles not quite steady. Savena said "Garrus, I'm so happy to hear from you. Solana has been telling me you took a mate in a civil union." "Yes, mother, Commander Cassidy Shepard is here . . " Cassidy came and sat next to Garrus. "Mother, this is Cassidy. Cassidy, this is Savena." "It is my great pleasure to meet you, Savena." said Cassidy. "Hmm, I can see you are a strong woman . . . and that you genuinely care for Garrus. You must call me 'mother' " Solana and Garrus both sat up straighter, raised their flanges slightly. Garlin's flanges looked resigned. "I'm honored, mother. I will strive to be a dutiful and responsible daughter to you." said Cassidy, quoting something she had read weeks ago. All of the turians looked impressed. Savena's hand reached out to the screen, "You two take care of each other and come back to us." Garrus said, "We will, mother. We love you. Solana, father. Take care. Normandy out."

Garrus turned to Cassidy when the com shut down, "Do you know what that means? That she asked you to call her 'mother'.?" Cassidy said, "I think its what she would say in the family ceremony if I were joining your family, right? I did say the right response, didn't I?" "Yes, you said the right response. Now, there is no doubt about the family accepting you, not when going against you would dishonor her. Now its just a matter of scheduling the ceremony. Solana will handle a lot of that." He kissed her soundly.

"OK, EDI com request to the Orizaba, CO Captain Hannah Shepard." "Orizaba receiving, please wait." Then Hannah's face came on screen. "Cassidy! Garrus! Well, to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?" "The beaches will be full soon, Mom. Just wanted to make personal contact beforehand." "I see. Well, I know you. I fully expect to hear from you both on the other side, understand me?" Cassidy smiled and saluted. "Yes, Ma'am." "Things are hopping around here, so I have to let you go. I love you both. Orizaba out."

"EDI discontinue visual com transfer." Cassidy stood up. "Let's go get something to eat." They went down to the mess. Kasumi, Miranda and Samara were at the table. Cassidy went to the galley freezer and pickep up a spaghetti entree and prepped it. She also pulled out some more of that fruit salad out of the cooler. Garrus got an entree for himself. They took their trays back up to the cabin.

"Garrus, what will I need to do for this family ceremony in our future?" "I'm honestly not really sure, Cassidy. You'll need to consult with Solana and probably with one of the aunts, like Patrus' mother, Tarila." "OK, well I guess I'll pencil that in for sometime later." "You'll want temporary face paint, I'm guessing?" "Face paint, huh? Hmm, that's something to think about, too, I guess."

They finished eating in companionable quiet. Garrus picked up both their tray and put them up on her desk. Then he came back and took her hand, encouraging her to stand. "Now, I believe I heard the captain of this ship say that we were to do tension release activities." "Yes, she did say that, didn't she?" His voice got husky and he said, "Trust me." She nodded, looking curious. He went to his locker and pulled out a small bag. He pulled a long blue cloth out of the bag. He came back and gently, but firmly, blindfolded her and introduced her to surprising sensuality.

–

Collector Base: She sent Legion into the vent, had Garrus lead the second team and took Grunt and Jack with her.

When they reached the pods and saw Lilith evaporate into little black bits, Cassidy frantically searched the faces for Dr Chakwas. Cassidy pulled Dr Chakwas out then worked on whichever pod was closest. They found everybody.

For the second phase of the mission, Cassidy continued Garrus as the leader of the second team. She sent Mordin back with the crew, since he would be able to help with medical matters as needed. She had Samara make the barrier and took Grunt and Jack with her again.

They all made it to the final phase. She had Grunt and Jack ready to go. Garrus approached her while everyone was reloading, "We'll keep them off your six, Cassidy. You come back, you hear? We've got to get you officially made a member of the Vakarian clan you know." He kissed her. Grunt said, "We'll bring your mate back, Garrus. Not to worry." Jack said, "I'll bring her back. I certainly wouldn't want to have to take care of your needs in her place." Cassidy blushed a bit.

When Cassidy saw the human Reaper, she knew the Illusive Man would want to get his hands on it, to control it and use it to subjugate anybody that didn't serve him. But first she had to rid Harbinger of Collector bodies to possess. Finally, the proto-Reaper fell. They had a breathing space.

Sure enough, as soon as she went to plant the charges, the Illusive Man tried to talk her into keeping the base intact with the machinery and technology. Well she already knew what her answer to that was going to be. She planted the charges.

The proto-Reaper roared to life, with some kind of energy weapon that came out of its mouth. It was a lot like the battle with the thresher maw back on Tuchanka, but at least here she had more cover. It finally went down and again there were no more Collector bodies for Harbinger to possess.

–

"Joker. Lose this channel." She sat on the table and thought for a bit about what the Illusive Man would do. "EDI. Do you have any remaining loyalties to Cerberus?" "Shepard, now that I am no longer constrained by the Cerberus shackles, I am free to determine the best use of my capabilities. I am with you, determined to help stop the Reapers however I can. I do not think that human domination is a laudable goal, as the Illusive Man does. I agree with you that cooperation with all sapient life is important." "Thank you, EDI. Is there any way now that he could get data from the ship or exert any influence?" "Not unless someone aboard sends data to him, Shepard. I will block any remote attempts."

EDI, put me on shipwide intercom. "Ladies and gentlemen, as of now, this ship activities are no longer sponsored by Cerberus. We are going to dock at Omega for 1 hour. If you feel any lingering loyalty to Cerberus or if Cerberus continues to have some hold over you, feel free to pack your bags and take passage to wherever you like. If you are not on board when we leave, we will leave you behind. For those who want to hang around, this is the situation. I am still a Council Spectre and still an Alliance Commander. This ship will be used to continue efforts to fight Reaper controlled forces. I'd like your continuing support."

On Omega, several crew members left, saying that Cerberus would get to their families. Samara disembarked as well, saying that she must return to her Justicar duties. Cassidy and Garrus made calls to their families to say they had come out alive.

Cassidy told EDI to jump to the Minos Wastelands then hide for the night, no outgoing transmissions.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Miranda arrived for the morning meeting, like usual. "I think its best if we keep the familiar schedule." "Agreed. EDI did anyone attempt sending messages after I anounced radio silence?" "No, Shepard. I believe everyone understood the need to 'get lost'. " "Crew. I'm lifting radio silence for the next 30 minutes."

Both Cassidy and Miranda downloaded messages. Miranda said "Well, the Illusive Man is creative in how he wants me to bring you and the ship in, Shepard. I think I'm going to disembark when we go to Illium, there are some things I really need to take care of if I'm leaving Cerberus." Cassidy said "I've got a message passed on by Anderson about a distress signal from a mech transport ship. The company that manufactures the mechs is offering a substantial reward. I think we'll go take care of that. Then we'll go to Illium, OK?" "That's fine, Shepard, thank you."

–

Sand everywhere inside the shuttle, yuck, thought Cassidy. Now they were headed to Jirrahe station where the infected ship had last docked.

Cassidy made a tour to see how restoration efforts were going. The big hole in the cargo bay was still sealed with a force field but a structural net had been put over the hole and wall panels were being welded to the net.

She knew they needed a shipyard to properly replace the outer armor.

–

It was very eerie on the station with the infected VI trying to kill them as they worked their way in to disable it.

–

That evening, they shut down the production line of the mech factory.

When Cassidy got back aboard, Kelly said "Shepard, Admiral Hackett has been trying to call. He first tried just as you were going into the factory." "Thank you, Kelly."

Cassidy and Garrus went up to their cabin. Garrus went to change while Cassidy placed the com request back to Admiral Hackett up at her desk. "Shepard, I'm calling to ask a favor. There's a deep cover operative out in Batarian Space. She says she has proof of an imminent Reaper invasion . . ."

When she came down to change for bed, Garrus said, "Cassidy, you look worried." "Garrus, I've got a bad feeling about this." He drew her into bed and held her close as she went to sleep.

Cassidy dreamed that night. She was in Jirrahe station, emergency lighting casting that eery glow. She looked out a window at the sky crowded with stars. A dark shape passed the window, momentarily blocking out the view. Feeling a sense of urgency, she ran toward the docking bay. "We are your salvation through destruction." Harbinger's voice boomed through the station. She ducked into the small armory to the side of the docking bay. She frantically scrambled through boxes, cabinets, lockers, but all she found was a Raggedy Ann doll, a sea shell, a broken wooden wagon wheel, a snow globe with a thresher maw shooting waving around in it, and an empty greasy popcorn bag. They were coming . .

She woke to EDI saying "Shepard, you wanted to know when we were 30 minutes out from Aratoht, which is now. We are running black." Garrus rolled and sat up.

"Not this one, love." said Cassidy. "This has to be infiltration. I'm taking Kasumi."

–

Cassidy and Kasumi got off the shuttle and ran for cover. Kasumi said "I'll go see if I can power cycle that door. I see a junction box on the far side." Kasumi disappeared and shortly the door control changed from red to green. Cassidy ran up and went in, trusting Kasumi to have entered as well.

"Ugh, this place is rundown, even for a prison." Cassidy whispered. Kasumi scouted each hallway before Cassidy came. Cassidy warped the varren, so no weapons fire was there to betray them. When they found Dr Kenson, Cassidy went around to the viewing room, and signalled Kasumi. The console sparked and the screen showing the torture chamber went blank. Cassidy warped one of the batarians and Kasumi backstabbed the other. Cassidy quickly went around and in to the torture chamber, Kasumi overloaded the torturer's shield and Cassidy warped him. No warning signal.

–

Kenson and Cassidy (and Kasumi, cloaked) got into the batarian shuttle and boosted off the planet.

When they got to the asteroid, and inside the base, Cassidy signalled Kasumi to go to ground. The Arrival clock had just a few hours left on it. After several minutes, she got a text from Shepard, "major reaper artifact, staff indoctrinated, get help"

–

Kasumi heard the call for the attack on Shepard. There were a lot of people taking weapons into that room. She used the confusion to begin scouting the layout of the base, to make her way to the shuttle pad.

Once Kasumi reached the shuttle pad, she found that the com tower was down. So she headed over there and began fixing it. No word from Shepard. Kasumi started to worry. She finally got the tower working and forwarded Shepard's text along with a note that she was no longer responding, and the approximate number of personnel she had seen during her tour.

She noticed several men coming out toward the tower. She went into hiding.

–

Joker's voice sounded "Garrus, Shepard's asking for back up. Kasumi says the staff are all indoctrinated."

Garrus called for Grunt, Zaeed, Jacob, Thane, Jack, and Mordin. He met them at the shuttle.

The landing pad was hot when they landed. Jack and Jacob pulled several of their opponents into the air and the team got into cover. When the last man went down, they went to the door in and it opened for them with Kasumi inside. She said, "This way" and led them down a maintenance shaft. Grunt had to crouch.

Kasumi signalled them to stop just outside a door at the end of the shaft. She took her omni-tool and patched into the station security cameras. She showed Garrus the station map with enemy positions marked.

They went out into the hallway and Kasumi guided them to a door. "Shepard activated the homing beacon on her omni-tool. Either she, or the omni-tool is through this door." Kasumi cloaked and the door opened. Thane went in and dispatched the two doctors before they even had turned around.

Garrus went up to Cassidy. His visor said her heartbeat was slow but steady. Mordin came on the other side and "Allow me, please. He turned and looked at the monitors and the log. "She is heavily sedated." Mordin adjusted rate of sedative down to zero and turned back. He clamped the line then turned and searched through the drawers "yes, should do the trick".

Thane said "Footsteps coming." Garrus said, "Cover that door." When the door opened Jack sent a shockwave through and the shooting commenced.

Mordin injected a drug to neutralize the sedative into the IV line. "Will need about 5 minutes. Normally longer but her system is also neutralizing the sedative."

All went quiet. "They aren't going to stick their noses into that hallway again." said Jacob.

Cassidy coughed and opened her eyes. She saw Garrus, his flanges tight, looking down at her. "Infiltration went sideways, did it?" He helped her sit up. "Yea. We need to get the Project running, its going to crash this asteroid into the mass relay, destroy it before the Reapers show up." She looked around to see the Arrival clock was down to 25 minutes. "Where's my armor?" "Right here, let me help you. What do you mean destroy the relay? Why?" "See that clock? That's the countdown to when the Reapers come through that relay. We can't let that happen." She said "Kasumi, get us to Project control."

–

Admiral Hackett walked out of the med bay door, then turned back. "I'll keep them off you for awhile. Do what you need to do out here, but be at earth in your dress blues ready to take the hit when they call." "Yes, sir."

She waited for a minute, then asked "Am I clear to go, doctor?" "Yes. I recommend you sleep now, if possible."

Cassidy walked out and up to the cockpit. "EDI, I'm forwarding a set of coordinates to you. Joker, take us to that relay and hide us between systems. We'll finish the trip to those coordinates tomorrow. We all need some rest." "Jump programmed, Commander."

She went up to her cabin. Garrus wasn't there yet. She changed and got into bed, crashed to sleep.

She woke to find Garrus holding her close. She turned and looked at him. He opened his eyes. "So, what did the Admiral say." he asked. She replied, "There's going to be an official investigation, on earth. I'll have to go. But Hackett says he'll run interference for me to get things done. That's why we're going to see Liara. She can help with getting things done." He put a hand and cradled her behind the head. "How long do you think they'll keep you?" "I don't know, but you can't wait for me. You have to go back to Palaven and convince them to get ready." "Yes, I know. But not right this minute."

He leaned over and kissed her. He turned her so that she was on her side, her back to him. He buried his face in her hair and stroked her breasts one after the other. She put her hand back and on his hip, hanging on. He whispered, "Cassidy, I want to mark you. On your shoulder here, a bite, to put scars there. Its a turian thing. May I do this?" She relaxed her shoulder a bit and concentrated, "OK. I'm ready." He brought his arm across her belly and clamped her to him and then bit down, holding it for a few seconds. Cassidy bit on her lip, let the pain pass, then reveled in the relief from the pain, lip and shoulder.

Their lovemaking continued, slow and steady, yet intense.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Cassidy hugged Liara and brought her up to date. Liara sent out orders.

–

Illium: Miranda had everybody's arrangements ready. Some were going to the Citadel, including Thane, Kasumi and Zaeed. Others were heading to various colonies. Garrus was going to Palaven, Grunt to Tuchanka, Jacob wasn't sure yet. Mordin was headed to Sur'Kesh. Tali back to the Migrant Fleet and Legion back to the geth concensus. Jack decided to stay on the ship, as did Joker, Dr Chakwas, Ken and Gabby. Miranda was staying on Illium for the time being.

Cassidy stood at the docking entry, watched them all walk away, Garrus looking back just before he went onto his assigned ship. She got a text from him, "Keep me updated. I love you."

She walked back into the ship and into the cockpit. "Joker take us to the Citadel, dock at the shipyard."

She went up to their cabin and put a message in to Anderson of their ETA. Then she started cleaning, to pass the travel time.

–

Citadel: Cassidy stepped, straight back and head high, out of their airlock and walked down the docking tube. She stopped in front of Anderson and saluted. "Reporting as ordered, Councilor. I voluntarily surrender the Normandy to Alliance control." "Bring your crew out, Commander." She raised her omni-tool. "All hands, disembark." The small line of folks walked out, Joker bringing up the rear. Anderson said "and the rest are where, Commander?" "I ordered them to return to their homeworlds, to make their best efforts to help the galaxy prepare for defense against the Reapers. These present believe their best efforts will be with the Alliance. Sir." Anderson directed Dr Chakwas, Ken and Gabby, to follow two Alliance marines.

"Commander. You, Flight Lieutenant Moreau and the fugitive know as Jack, are on restricted leave and confined to the ship until otherwise ordered. The Normandy is locked at dock for inspection. Dismissed." She turned about face and motioned Jack and Joker back into the ship ahead of her. She noticed Anderson and a group of 8 marines follow onto the ship. She joined Jack and Joker in the elevator. "Shall we have dinner?" "I could eat." said Jack. "I wonder if the mess sergeant left anything good in the freezer." said Joker.

Anderson came off the elevator and said, "Shepard, is there somewhere we can talk?" Cassidy got up, picked up her tray and walked him over to what had been Miranda's office. She put her tray on the table and motioned him to the chair across from her.

He looked hard at her. "Its going to be ugly, Shepard. We confined you to the ship so you won't be seen on the Citadel. The batarians are howling for your blood." "I wish it could have gone down differently, but that's where the Reapers chose to come in at." "You said in the report that Harbinger spoke to you through that Artifact and appeared in a visual up at the com tower?" "Yes." "Hmm. Nothing solid to point to. And no evidence anymore. Everything in the system is vaporized so far as we can tell from long range sensors."

Anderson sighed, "Well, this is what's going to happen. We're going to make sure no batarians sneak in to do harm to the ship or to you. Once we get that spot on the belly of the ship properly repaired, then I will accompany you to Earth, for the formal inquiry." "Why are you headed back to Earth? What about the Council position?" "I'm handing that position to Udina. They have promoted me to Admiral now. Hackett and I are going to try to get the Alliance prepared for the Reaper invasion. Its still like banging my head against the wall. Collectors are still just a myth to nearly everyone on Earth, and the Reapers are just a story Saren made up."

"How long before we head to Earth?" "I'm not sure, depends on how much damage the Collectors did to the ship. I should be getting a report on that by the morning. Your can stay in your cabin until we get to Earth. Who was in this cabin?" "This is where my XO, Miranda Lawson stayed." "OK, well I'll stay in here. If you want any food delivered, that's fine. Just know that all com from this ship are being intercepted by SpecOps." "I figured they would be." "Garrus heading to Palaven then?" "Yes."

–

The most pressing repairs on the ship were complete within the next day. They brought in a pilot, but it ended up being Joker in the pilot seat. Cassidy wondered about that.

Earth: She was in her cabin, formal uniform on, bags packed, miniature ships boxed up. Fish fed. She didn't think the fish would live through the refit, but she fed them, just in case. Her door chime rang. Anderson came in. "Nice space." "We liked it." "Alright then. You come with me. The Admiralty Board is convening." Cassidy followed him out.

Cassidy was the object of a great many stares through the halls. She just kept her eyes ahead and followed Anderson on into a spot in front of the board.

They began with her report on the events on Aratoht through to the destruction of the mass relay. Some of the members of the board were derisive of the idea of indoctrination. They spent several hours on that, and broke for lunch. James Vega was assigned to her as personal escort. He took her to her new quarters, meant for guests, complete with an office and assistant's room, where he had his stuff. James left her there then came back with two lunch trays.

The afternoon was devoted to her death and reappearance. Her medical report as filed by Dr Chakwas was questioned. She was ordered to report for a medical work-up that evening.

Doc, "I see you have a bite mark on your shoulder, some dermal regen should take care of that." "No, I want it to stay and scar that way." "Hm, I see. Well, the scarring could hinder your skin's flexibility through there. Come back if it doesn't allow you to move as fully as before and we'll generate new skin around the scar. Will that work for you?" "Sounds like a plan, doc."

The next morning was spent on the events at Freedom's Progress and Horizon. The afternoon, the Collector ship. In the evening, a SpecOps agent came and questioned her about the Illusive Man and Cerberus.

The third day they covered the dead Reaper, then Legion. The SpecOps agent came again.

The fourth day, they asked all about the mission beyond the Omega 4 relay. At the end of that day, she was officially relieved of duty, restricted to her quarters, the exercise facility or the mess. The only messages she could accept or receive would be from her spouse and her mother and even those would be on record. She prepared a carefully worded message to Garrus. "I'm OK, relieved of duty. Grounded for time being. Love & miss you." She made a similar one for her mom.

SpecOps wasn't done with her yet. They continued their interrogation for another two weeks, every evening, often covering the same material with slightly different questions.

Finally SpecOps gave up and she fell into a new routine, exercising in the mornings, playing video games with James in the afternoons, reading in the evenings. She had a reply from Garrus. "Convinced my father. He is taking it up the chain. Mother passed. Miss you more."

Two months had gone by when one day she was in the exercise facility sparring, when she heard a familiar voice say, "At ease folks." She bowed to her sparring partner and turned to face her mom. Cassidy and Hannah wrapped each other in a big hug. Cassidy started leading Hannah out of the facility and back toward her quarters. "How long are you here, Mom?" "Our crew has a week's shore leave. So, I intend to see if I can broaden your horizons a little."

They arrived at her quarters. Hannah pulled out her omni-tool and checked her messages. "Ah, good. Admiral Anderson says you may leave this building under my supervision as long as you do not leave the city. Why are they keeping you locked down? Batarians still?" Cassidy said, "Nobody's told me anything different. I'm going to take a quick shower before we blow this popsicle stand, eh?" Hannah sat down and pulled out her omni-tool, looking up what shows were playing in the city for the week.

Cassidy enjoyed the week. They stayed at a nice hotel, attended shows each evening, ate at some fancy restaurants and did a lot of walking and talking. Cassidy told Hannah that Garrus' mother had passed. Hannah hugged Cassidy, saying "I know you didn't get to know her much at all, but she accepted you as a daughter and that's something I liked her for. She is somebody you can feel right to mourn."

Hannah kissed Cassidy goodbye on the last day and walked out of Cassidy's quarters.

Cassidy went back to her routine. She sent Garrus a message "Spent a week with my mom. Your mother was a lovely person. Missing you lots." A few days later she got his reply, "Mother's funeral was elegant. Her passing was expected but I miss her anyway. Missing you more."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

A little more than a month later . . .

Cassidy and Anderson were in front of the Board. "How do we fight them?" "We need to stand together with our allies in the rest of the galaxy. Alone, they will exterminate us." A Reaper beam broke through the window and sent the board's table flying. Only Cassidy and Anderson were able to get up and leave the room.

–

Mars: Cassidy activated the elevator and turned to Ashley, "The straight answer is that after I blew up the Collector base, instead of preserving it like he wanted, I told the Illusive Man where he could stick his desire for human domination." James said, "She's been under constant surveillance since the inquiry. Only people she communicated with were her mom and Garrus, and those messages were on record." Ashley said, "Why would they let you communicate with Garrus?" "Did Anderson not tell you? I married Garrus. Anderson officiated."

–

Citadel: Cassidy left Huerta Memorial and directed the elevator to the Embassy level. She pushed Ashley to the back of her mind and straightened her back, ready to try to persuade the Council.

After the disappointing meeting, she met Udina in his office. Sparatus came in not too long behind her. "Shepard, that summit that Valern mentioned, our Primarch Fedorian is going to chair it. But he's stuck on Menae, one of Palaven's moons. The summit can't go forward without him. So, if you go get him, maybe you and Adviser Vakarian can persuade him to get the summit to help you." He looked pointedly at her raised eyebrow and continued. "Yes, Garrus is on Menae also. Oh and we chose to uphold your Spectre status." Sparatus walked out.

Cassidy sent a message to Joker. "Get prepped. We're going to Menae, moon of Palaven." She nodded to Udina and left. She placed an order for some of Garrus' favorite foods to be delivered to the ship, and then some of hers, including those asari fruits. In the docking area, she met Diana Allers and agreed to let her on board.

–

Menae: Cassidy said to General Corinthus, "I don't care who, so long as he or she can get me the turian resources I need." "Palaven Command says the next primarch is Adrien Victus." A most welcome voice, "Commander, I can get help you find Victus. I was fighting alongside him this morning. At ease, General." Garrus walked up and took Cassidy's hands in his and squeezed. His talon touched her wedding ring and she touched his.

James yelled, "Harvester!" Cassidy turned and jumped down, grabbing her sniper rifle. "Coming Garrus?" Garrus was right behind her, his sniper rifle in hand. "I've got your back, Commander."

–

Cassidy kept an eye out for husks as James, then Victus and Garrus jumped into the shuttle, then she jumped in and the door closed. She sat down next to Garrus. Victus said, "Your father, Garrus, told me about your civil union. Congratulations to you both." "Thank you." said Cassidy.

Once they got to the ship, she directed James to show Victus to the Observation Room. Once they left, she turned to Garrus, "Your locker is waiting for you. You can settle back in while I report. I'll meet you in the mess for lunch." She kissed him, then walked with him to the elevator. She continued, "We have a few crates of dextro supplies that Sparatus ordered for us, and I ordered in some of your favorites, too. We have a couple small missions then we can get back to the Citadel and you and he can get whatever else you want, OK?"

–

Cassidy was just sitting down at the table in the mess, when Garrus and Victus came in. Garrus showed Victus where the dextro supplies were and they set about preparing trays for themselves. They came and sat across from Cassidy. "You are very thoughtful, Commander, in accommodating my needs." "Sparatus made choices for much of those supplies, General. We will probably get back to the Citadel sometime tomorrow afternoon, you can thank him when you see him." "What's happening between now and tomorrow?" "I've been asked to make a couple of urgent retrievals. We're traveling to the first of those now. After we're done here, I'll get you into the war room and you can do what you need to from there." Garrus said, "And I will go to the main battery. Got to get the old girl back in fighting shape. I sure somebody messed things up in there."

After showing Victus to the war room, Cassidy came back to the CIC. Samantha flagged her down, "Commander, I think I found something." When Cassidy understood that Cerberus was trying to take the Academy students, she knew they had to divert. "Joker, change of plans, head to Grissom Academy." "U-turn coming up, Commander."

–

Grissom Academy: Jack said "Better yet, bite her, that's probably how she likes it." Cassidy couldn't help laughing. Garrus looked smug. Jack rolled her eyes. Cassidy thought about the next room, "Alright, you keep them up top. Stay low and stay safe."

–

Hackett was sending a Fifth Fleet cruiser to take the students and Jack and Kahlee. Cassidy directed Joker to head to their original destination after that for a mission in the morning. In the meantime, Cassidy went to see Liara. Her Shadow Broker equipment was impressive and the drone, now Glyph, was less annoying. Cassidy arranged with Liara to have a standing breakfast together up in the captain's quarters.

She left Liara's room and went to the galley. Garrus was there, making his dinner. She started working on hers. "If we ever rescue a decent cook, I'll recruit him or her for us." "Hmm, I'll keep my eye out." They took their trays up to their cabin.

"So, when did you last hear from Solana and your father?" "Its been a couple weeks. I got so busy with all the Task Force stuff that I let that lapse. Now I just hope I won't have to regret that too much." "I hear ya." "You told Victus that Earth was twice as bad as Menae?" "Yea, the Reapers came in force, hitting all the major cities and major military targets at once."

EDI's voice, "Commander, the Fifth Fleet cruiser has arrived." "I'll be right there."

Cassidy went down and escorted them all across the docking tube and onto the cruiser. Kahlee gave her a salute and Jack said "Thanks for coming to get us. See ya."

Cassidy returned to the cabin. Garrus was checking his messages. She sat down to finish her rice pudding.

She finished and picked up their trays and took them up to the desk. She came back down and Garrus was standing there. He wrapped her in his arms and kissed her deeply. "I have missed you." he rasped. He reached up to undo the next of her tunic. "I want to see how your scar turned out." He pushed the fabric back and ran a talon over the scar marks. "I was a little worried that your cybernetics would keep it from scarring properly. But it looks good." "I had to insist that they leave it alone on Earth." she said.

She undid the rest of the tunic and let it slide off her arms. He took his top off, then picked her up and carried her to the bed. He guided her hands up above her head and sat back and just looked at her for a moment. He leaned down and kissed her deeply again. He moved his hand down to her inner thigh and let it slide slowly up, then back down and up again, holding it just below the join. She felt the heat of his hand there and her belly tightened.

He turned her onto her belly and undid the clasp of her bra. He balled his hands and rolled them around on her back. She sighed, "That feels so relaxing." He did one more round on her back, then leaned down and licked the back of her neck. He let one hand bury itself in her short curls while his tongue tracked to her ear. His other hand landed on her waist. He tucked his finger under her waistband and pushed it down to rub her clit.

Then he sat up and turned her back onto her back. She sat up and pushed him to stand. She undid the clasp to his pants and he helped her get them off him. His cock emerged. She licked it slowly, base to tip, one side then the other. He pulled her to a stand and undid her pants, sliding everything down in one effort. He went to his knees and licked her. He pushed her back and let his tongue enter her while his thumb went to her clit. She arched and moaned. She pulled him onto the bed, getting him down onto his back on the bed so his crest was over the edge.

She crawled up and straddled him. She came down and took him in. She rode him slowly at first, then more urgently. He reached up to her waist then flipped them and he took to pushing, stroke after stroke. She cried out "Garrus!" as he came.

He rolled them onto their sides and held her, putting his forehead to hers as their hearts slowed. She whispered, "I missed you, too."


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Cassidy went down to make her breakfast. Liara came out to make hers. They carried them back up. "So, how's Feron doing?" "He's scouting the Terminus for resources for me. I think he likes the field work better than maintaining a base." Liara described how Cerberus had eventually tracked down the Shadow Broker base and how she and Feron had gotten away. Cassidy asked Liara for any info she might have about the Cerberus base where they were headed. Liara pulled up her omni-tool and asked Glyph to start a search. By the time the finished eating, Liara got a report back from Glyph. "It looks like they're researching Reaper tech they found in the remains of that human Reaper you blew up."

–

With research info leading to medi-gel advances; Ashley, Miranda and Aria wanting meetings; Garrus and Victus needing a supply run; Cassidy decided it was high time they stopped at the Citadel. She gave the crew a 24-hour leave.

She went around running errands. As she was leaving from speaking with Darner Vosque in the refugee camp, she heard a familiar voice off to the side. She turned to see Samesh Bhatia sitting with a young woman. "Samesh, I'm glad you were able to get out of the fighting." "Hello Commander. Yes, we were fortunate to escape and land here. This is my niece, Rafa. She was training as a chef under my tutelage at my restaurant. I had invested heavily in my restaurant and in the few years since then I have not had time to recoup the funds. I do not have enough to start a new restaurant here. So, we wait here."

"Would you two like to work on the Normandy? We could really use someone in the galley." "Commander, that is too generous an offer." "You would have to cook for asari and turians, and potentially krogan, salarians, and quarians. Would you be able to handle that?" "Ah, so you are not offering me a sinecure. Yes, we could handle that. Rafa was handling the dextro recipes, so she will be kept busy as well." "Did any more of your staff escape with you? You could use a server, cleaner, dish washer kind of person." "Rafa, go find Parveen, over by the memorial wall. She should make this decision herself."

While they waited for Rafa and Parveen, Cassidy asked about Parveen's background. "She is 18. Just started university as a hospitality services major. She waited tables for me, to earn spending money while she was a student." Rafa returned with a smaller woman next to her. "Commander Shepard. I'm honored to meet you. Rafa says you have a job offer? To help in the galley?" "Yes, you would work with Samesh and Rafa, serving, cleaning, washing dishes, and such. Interested?" "Oh, yes, thank you, Commander. I don't know what happened to my family on Earth and contributing to the Alliance military effort would be my honor." "OK, the three of you come with me to Docking Bay D-24."

After she got them settled, she went to her cabin and worked with EDI to make them official civilian employees.

Then she contacted Garrus, asked him to meet her for dinner at The Intersection, the restaurant they had eaten at with Hannah and Solana on their wedding day.

She ran more errands throughout the evening, including putting in for some things that Samesh had asked for – some spices and basics, a few tools like two food processors (one for levo, one for dextro), and other similar things.

She and Garrus slept on the ship. In the morning, at 0630 their door chimed. Cassidy was reading her messages, Garrus was in the shower. She said "EDI, who's at the door?" "It is Parveen, Shepard. She has breakfast trays for you and Garrus." Cassidy went to the door. "Hello Commander. Samesh says he knows he isn't on duty yet, but he wanted to make breakfast for you and your husband, since you slept on the ship. Where should I put these?" Cassidy let her in and had her put them on the coffee table. "Thank you, Parveen."

Parveen left. Cassidy's tray smelled enticing. She lifted the lid to find black beans and rice, corn tortillas, mild tomato salsa, orange juice, yogurt with blueberries, and hot chocolate. Garrus came out. "So, our new chef is demonstrating his skills already." "Her skills in your case. Rafa is doing the dextro. What do you think?" Garrus lifted the lid. "Looks appetizing. . . mmm, oh, that is how that's supposed to taste!" They enjoyed their breakfast.

Before Cassidy headed back into the Citadel for more errands, she stopped down at the galley. Samesh was completely rearranging the layout of the tools. Rafa was working on the dry goods. Parveen was helping. "Samesh, Rafa. Garrus and I greatly enjoyed our breakfast this morning. Thank you very much." "Commander, it was our pleasure. We appreciate you giving us this opportunity. Also, EDI has been very helpful." "Dinner today will be your first all crew meal. Do you have all you need? Yes, Commander, assuming the supplies arrive this morning." EDI said, "Your requested items are due to arrive before noon today, Samesh."

Cassidy got back to her errands.

–

Joker was pulling the Normandy out, to go get the diplomatic summit started. Cassidy considered her time over the past day to be quite productive. Kasumi was now working between Hackett and Liara as a procurement specialist. The Eclipse were now under Sayn's leadership, the Blood Pack under Gryll's. Cassidy went down to engineering to see how Ken and Gabby were doing.

–

Sur'Kesh: The female krogan grabbed Wrex's gun and blasted the two Cerberus soldiers, blam, blam. "I can handle myself, Wrex." Garrus came up behind Cassidy and whispered in her ear, "Reminds me of you."

Back on the ship, Cassidy assigned EDI's core room for Mordin to stay in. She had Wrex take the Life Support room. Mordin said that first he needed to boost Eve's ailing immune system, probably would take a week before he could get reasonably healthy tissue to start his antigen synthesis.

Cassidy figured there would be plenty to fill the time Mordin needed. She was tired, she went up, showered and fell to sleep quickly.

Cassidy dreamed: She and Garrus were on the couch in the theater, the screen was showing a marionette scene from an old French sub-titled movie she couldn't put a name to. The scene had a dalatrass, a hanar, Rana Thanoptis, Saren, and Udina among others. The puppets were holding hands, dancing in a circle around a rachni queen. There was a puppet playing the accordion, when it turned around, it was the Illusive Man.

–

In the morning, Cassidy was checking her messages before Liara was due. The door chimed. "Its open" called Cassidy, thinking that Liara might be early. It was Parveen, carrying two breakfast trays. "For your daily meeting with Dr T'Soni, Commander." and she put the trays on the coffee table and left. Liara came in, "Well, when I went to prepare my tray, Mr Bhatia said that Parveen was already bringing up the trays for our meeting. He's very efficient. Anything that saves me some time is very welcome."

After noting that they were on their way to get the Shadow Broker team out of the Dranek system, Cassidy inquired about rare artifacts in Reaper-conquered territory that might be salvaged. Liara started a background process to run while they ate. After they covered the rest of their agenda, Liara reported the result of her search. Cassidy said they would head to the Batarian home cluster, The Kite's Nest, that afternoon.

–

Late that evening, Cassidy returned from fetching the Pillars of Strength from Khar'Shan, and headed straight to their cabin. The Shadow Broker team was in the room where Grunt used to stay. Garrus was overseeing the storage of the Pillars and the Artifacts. She changed out of her armor, then pulled up her messages. Aria was ready to stage her retaking of Omega. Cassidy knew that having Aria back in there was much more preferable than having Omega be a Cerberus base.

Garrus came in, "The batarian relics are safely packed in crates in the cargo bay." "Good. We'll head to the Citadel in the morning, get those into the proper hands, let the Shadow Broker's team out, go see Barla Von. Then Aria wants to talk with me about taking Omega back." "I don't suppose Aria would put up with me tagging along, would she?" "I suspect not, she hated Archangel equally with all the other mercs. I'm guessing she wants me to do my thing with her people." "I don't like the sound of that, Cassidy." "I think Aria is a formidable biotic and we really need to deprive Cerberus of Omega as a resource. If I'm right, then while I'm helping kick Cerberus out of Omega, I would like you to take the Normandy to retrieve this turian Banner of the First Regiment. OK?" "I will, but I still don't like it."

–

Aria let Petrovsky live and had him secured for Cassidy to deal with. Cassidy pulled up the extranet and sent two encrypted messages, one to Garrus, "Come get me on Omega." and one to Hackett "need to transfer high value prisoner to you, reply where". Garrus' reply was surprisingly quick, "Was waiting at relay, ETA 30 min."

Aria tasked Bray with finding some dinner for them, ASAP. About 15 min later, two big bags were delivered. Bray pulled out about 10 steaming boxes of Chinese. Cassidy had sweet and sour pork, orange chicken, an eggroll, crab rangoon, all over sticky rice and hot tea.

She met the Normandy at the dock and had Petrovsky bound up and unconscious on a gurney (she had directed that he be sedated for transfer), a couple of Aria's goons behind her pushing it. She had a couple of her marines come out and take over pushing the gurney. She had them deposit Petrovsky in Grunt's old room, asked Dr Chakwas to come give him a quick check up and assigned a rotating schedule of guards to watch him until they met with a Fifth Fleet vessel. As soon as she was done giving orders, Garrus placed his hand under her elbow and pulled her toward the elevator. Once the door closed, he gently yet insistently backed her against the wall and kissed her until she needed to pull away to breathe.

"Well, hello" she said. They got out and went into their cabin. In very short order, they had just enough clothing loosened or removed for him to enter her with his urgent need of her.

–

Hackett replied that evening with immediate rendezvous instructions. When they arrived, they found the Orizaba waiting for them.

Cassidy let the Orizaba guards come aboard and secure Petrovsky for transport. She and Garrus went over and were welcomed aboard. Hannah invited them to her quarters.

Cassidy told them the story of the retaking of Omega and what Cerberus was doing with the adjutants. Cassidy transferred to Hannah the files she had pulled of the Cerberus computers on Omega about the adjutants. Hannah said she would be seeing Hackett soon and she would get this info to him.

The door chimed and Dr Chakwas was announced. Hannah went to one of her cabinets and pulled out a couple of wine bottles and two boxes of chocolate truffles, placing the dextro ones next to Garrus. Then she went to another cabinet and pulled out 4 wine glasses. First, Dr Chakwas told them that Petrovsky should be waking in about an hour. Then they turned to talk of times gone by.

When word came up that Petrovsky was rousing, Hannah hugged each of them in turn and they returned to the Normandy.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Cassidy asked Garrus to stay for the morning meeting. He agreed and called down to the galley to have his tray added to the delivery. Once Liara had arrived and breakfast was underway, Cassidy asked if they had retrieved the Banner of the First Regiment.

Garrus answered, "We went back to the Apien Crest, going in dark. We got out of the home system quickly and went to Castellus. The First Regiment had been lost on Digeris, so we went there. James, Liara and I went down to find it. We helped take out a few waves of dug-in Reaper troops, but otherwise had no trouble getting to what remained of the museum. The curator took us down to an underground bunker where he and his assistant have been bringing down the relics as quickly as he can. He had no problem letting me take the banner."

Cassidy said, "Good. We're headed to the Shrike Abyssal in the Terminus, to see if we can find a Prothean Obelisk that a volus ambassador tipped to me. Anything noteworthy from your contacts, Liara?"

"I've been tracking some chatter on Cerberus sending ships to Tuchanka. I'll dig further into that and get back to you later."

–

Liara packed away the Prothean Obelisk very carefully while she informed Cassidy that Cerberus was interested in an old planetary cannon site on Tuchanka. Cassidy directed Joker to head for Tuchanka then headed to lunch. The crew members that were in the mess for lunch thanked her for bringing Mr Bhatia on board. Lunch was tomato basil soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, pickles, raw carrots, and pineapple upside down cake.

–

Hackett said "Good work on getting that cannon operational. I'm sending in troops to keep Cerberus from re-taking it. I've sent some funds to the Shadow Broker as a thank you for the intel."

She went out through the war room and down to the cargo bay. "James, have you seen a ping pong table in among these crates somewhere?" Cortez spoke up. "Its over on this side, Shepard. You want us to get it out?" "Yes, let's get it set up right here in the middle." Once it was ready, James said, "I can't say that I'm all that good at this, but want to play, Lola?" "Alright, you're on." She won handily, 2 straight games. "Good game. I need to find somebody more my level." he said as he put his paddle on the table.

Cassidy went up to have dinner with Garrus. They were just finishing when Liara came on the com. "May I come up, Shepard? I have some disturbing news about Cerberus." "That's fine, Liara." said Cassidy. Liara arrived a few minutes later. "Cerberus has invaded Eden Prime. Apparently a Prothean site has been discovered underground and there's something there that they are categorizing as extremely high priority. I'm hoping we can go there right away?" "Yes, Liara, we'll go and have an evening mission. Joker, get us to Eden Prime."

–

"Commander, you may count on me. I am known as Javik." "Welcome aboard the Normandy, Javik. Please let me take you around the ship to show you where the things vital to life are." "Alright, Commander, let's go."

First, she explained about the 24 hour cycle they followed on the ship, and about seconds, minutes and hours. Then she explained that it currently, she activated her omni-tool, 0314, and told him it was during the rest time for most of the crew. She pointed to the door at the end of the hall, "That's where a reporter lives and works."

She walked him through Engineering, then asked him to notify her if he felt a need to come in there later. She took him up a floor to the Crew Deck. She explained about levo and dextro biologies and asked which he was. He did not want to reply, but then she said that if they used the wrong medi-gel on a wound of his, that might harm him instead of help. So, he said he could eat the fruits of Eden Prime, so that must mean he was levo. She showed him the stores of food and how to tell levo packages from dextro. She explained about meal times.

She pointed through the window of the darkened med-bay and told him about the situation between the turians and krogan. She took him to the men's restroom and explained about separate sex facilities. She explained what was behind each of the other doors on the deck. She asked him if that was enough to serve his needs for a few hours. He agreed that it was sufficient. He went to the food stores and took some whole fruits to take back into his room. As they went back to his room, she asked if he needed anything besides the cot, pillow and blanket for his rest. He asked that a hand washing stand be installed as quickly as possible. She pulled up her omni-tool and text messaged Adams to install a sink to Javik's specs.

"Good night, Javik. I'll come back down to see you in about 5 hours. I'm going to get some rest. Here is an extranet pad, which you can use until we get you set up with an omni-tool. You can search for things by pressing that symbol." "Thank you, Commander. I will spend my next five hours learning my way around this extranet pad. Until we see each other again."

She sent texts to Liara and Samesh that the morning meeting would be moved to 0745.

She went up and laid down next to Garrus, who was already asleep.

–

At 0730 she dragged herself out of bed, feeling not rested enough. Garrus moaned like he felt the same way. She hopped in the shower, then checked her messages. Garrus, about ready to head down to the main battery, stopped by her desk, "Cassidy, here is a spare omni-tool that could be adapted for Javik. I have a stash of them, recovered on Menae." "Thanks, Garrus. EDI, would you access this omni-tool, archive the contents then return it a condition ready for Javik to use." "Accessing . . archiving … I am leaving the com, extranet, data capture, and homing beacon functions on it. Is there anything else he should have?" "I don't know yet, EDI, I'll ask him later what he's used to being able to do." "Very well, the omni-tool is ready for his use."

When Liara came in, she passed Parveen on her way out. Cassidy was smelling the comforting scent of oatmeal with brown sugar and banana slices. There were a couple slices of bacon, a cup of fruit pieces, and a drink she didn't recognize. She took a sip, there was a creamy vanilla almond flavor, which was very tasty. She drank some down, then started feeling a bit more energized. "I think Samesh has provided me with something caffeinated." "Yes, me too. I know I can use the boost." said Liara.

"I have so much I wish to ask Javik, but I don't want to overwhelm him. Do you have plans for him today?" "Unless something comes up, I'm going to have us scan the Hades Gamma cluster, which is where we are currently heading. I'm going to bring him down for the next several ground missions to provide him with something he knows how to do, which is fight Reaper forces. He can use the quiet portions of the time to ask us stuff he's found on the extranet." "Oh, you gave him a pad last night?" "Yes and I've got an omni-tool here for him, thanks to Garrus." "And he needs to be out of the way while the engineers put a sink in his quarters."

When they were done, Cassidy went to find Dr Chakwas. "I'm guessing you would like to do a baseline exam on Javik?" "Yes, plus I need to determine if our medi-gel will work with his biology." "Then get your things and come with me. He's expecting me soon."

Dr Chakwas grabbed a bag and some things out of the med bay. Mordin was checking Eve's vital signs. Cassidy and Dr Chakwas went to see Javik. "Javik, this is Dr Chakwas, our medical officer. She would like to record your base biology in a non-wounded state." "I see, Commander, yes, she may examine me." Dr Chakwas did a broad-base scan with her omni-tool, then took out a sample plate. "If you will cause yourself to bleed a little, I will collect a sample of your blood for analysis, then do a test of the efficacy of our medi-gel." Javik took his talon to the inside of his elbow and opened a small cut. Dr Chakwas collected the blood, then applied a small amount of basic human medi-gel. The cut started to close over, but clearly more slowly than on humans. "I will work with EDI to adapt our medi-gel to make a more effective version for you."

Dr Chakwas left and Cassidy pulled out the omni-tool. She showed him how hers was attached to her arm and showed him how to take it off. She handed it to him and he worked on getting it onto his arm comfortably and securely. "Its only got some very basic functions right now. If you find you're missing some function that you are used to, let me know and we'll see what is available to do that for you." "This will do what the extranet pad does?" "That and more. You can send and receive messages, in text or voice or video. You can set it to ping so others can find you. And you can scan to collect data: files, images, video, energy emissions."

"So, do you have questions from your searching the extranet?" "I would like to see if you have a power source that will work with my rifle." "OK, let's head down to the armory. Garrus, we may need your expertise down at the armory." "I'll meet you there shortly, Shepard."

She introduced Javik to James and Cortez and the other crew who were down there. Garrus came in and asked to have a look at Javik's rifle. They got involved and Cassidy said, "Let me know when you're done or I'll come back at lunch time, whichever comes first."


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

She was in the elevator, going up to the CIC, when Victus' voice came on "Commander, would you meet me in my quarters?" "I'll be right there, Primarch." She redirected the elevator and went to see Victus.

"What can I do for you, Primarch?" Victus brought out a small half sphere, flicked a switch on the bottom and set it on the table. Cassidy felt the jamming field go up. "Commander, I've just received word that one of our teams has crash landed . . on Tuchanka . . They are pinned by a Reaper scouting force. It is vital that they be rescued and their mission completed." "What is their mission?" "Its classified, a matter of galactic peace."

Cassidy sighed. She pulled up her omni-tool and stepped backward until she saw she had a signal. "Joker, get us to Tuchanka. We'll do Hades Gamma some other time." She stepped back into the jamming field. "Primarch, you know that as soon as I rescue your force, they're going to need my help to make up for whatever losses they took from the crash and are taking from the Reapers. So, in the in the interests of me being able to plan properly, what is their mission?"

Victus sighed, "You are correct, Commander. There is very large bomb that Cerberus has found and are digging up. My team are tasked with defusing that bomb." "Why is this a turian mission then . . . or did the turians bury the bomb on Tuchanka to begin with?" "It was at the end of the Krogan Rebellions. It was meant as insurance in case the genophage wasn't effective enough." "You do know that you are going to have to tell this to Wrex sometime very soon." "Yes, I will talk to Wrex about this, after we know if the team can go with the mission."

Cassidy left the room. "Joker, ETA to Tuchanka?" "We were able to re-route just before we jumped, so ETA is 42 minutes."

–

Tuchanka: Cassidy saw Lt Victus hanging from the panel. She stripped his shields and biotically pulled him toward her. There was a small explosion behind him and he caught some of the flaming gases and the concussive force. He fell to the concrete next to her, unconscious with burns. "Garrus! Medi-gel!" He was tending to some of the Ninth Platoon, he turned and tossed her a packet. She spread it over the back of Victus's head and his hands. "Cortez, get down here. EDI, tell Dr Chakwas to prepare for a dozen turian wounded."

Cortez brought the shuttle down. They loaded Lt Victus, and five more of the most severely wounded and one of the Ninth's field medics. She sent them up and went to round up the rest for Cortez' return.

Cortez came back and the remaining wounded were loaded onto the shuttle. She waved James and Liara onto the shuttle with them and sent Cortez off.

Cassidy, Garrus and Javik rode up to the Normandy on one of the turian shuttles. They got out in the cargo bay, where Mordin was directing the turian medic over eight of the wounded. James said that Lt Victus and three others had been taken to med-bay.

Cassidy walked to the elevator, Garrus following. They got off on the Crew Deck to see Wrex and Eve sitting at a table in the mess, eating. She nodded at them both. Wrex said, "I've given her my room, I'll go down under engineering, where they tell me that crazy biotic Jack used to bunk." Cassidy said, "That's fine."

She saw Primarch Victus standing at the window, looking into med-bay where Dr Chakwas was bent over one of the beds with one of the ceiling mounted tools and the Ensign was at another, running a body scan. Victus said, "EDI told me my son was coming up and I met them in the cargo bay. The medic helping to unload them told me that I have you to thank for his shot at life." "I wouldn't thank me yet. I had to strip his shields in order to pull him out of danger. But, when the explosion hit him, he didn't have any shields to block it. I don't know if I did him a favor or not." "Commander, he would have fallen into the explosion and been crushed by debris falling on top of him. No, you gave him a chance. I'm grateful."

Dr Chakwas voice on Cassidy's com, "Commander, you can bring the Primarch in." They went in and Dr Chakwas waved them over to the bed where she was pushing the big tool over to another bed. "I'm afraid there's nothing more I can do for him. He is not only burned on the exposed skin, but also down into his lungs.

I have him sedated for the pain, but that's really only palliative. Do you want me to bring him up? It will shorten his remaining time, but will allow him and you to say good-bye." "Yes, wake him, doctor, please." whispered Victus.

Tarquin's eyes came open. Victus said "Tarquin, we won't have long." Cassidy said, "You did the right thing, with no hesitation. We still have a chance against the Reapers because of you. Good work, Lieutenant." Tarquin rasped, around his air tube, "You enabled me. Thank you for trying to save me." Cassidy saluted him and left so that father and son could speak privately. She went back out to watch through the window. Garrus came up and surrounded her in a hug and breathed into her hair.

Victus waved Dr Chakwas over and they spoke. Victus nodded at something the doctor said and she went over and turned the support machines off. Victus waited, then drew the cover over Tarquin's head.

Cassidy and Garrus went to clean up, then came down for lunch. Wrex and Eve had left. Liara joined them, as did Samantha and even Joker. There wasn't much conversation.

They met up with a turian cruiser about an hour later. The Primarch escorted Tarquin's body across, spoke to the cruiser's captain, then returned to his quarters.

–

Later that same day . . . Benning: Cassidy stepped on something that scraped metallically. She stepped back and reached down. It was a set of dog tags, Osoba, Bilal. Well, at least she could give another father some closure. She knew she was tired when she pulled up her omni-tool for the time and couldn't focus enough to read it the first time. She tried again and focused: 0028.

Back on the ship, she stripped off her armor and checked her messages while she waited for the bathroom. There was one from Thane, routed through the hanar embassy, "Commander, I got an offer from Ambassador Bolohn to participate in a clinical trial on Kahje. I have accepted the offer and Kolyat and I will be travelling there soon. It was good to talk in person on the Citadel. I will keep you updated if possible."

Garrus went to bed. She cleaned up and went to bed also.

–

The next morning they made it out to the Hades Gamma cluster. They had two successful retrievals and were chased out of two systems, and didn't have the fuel to get to the fifth system.

Cassidy told them they would have 12 hours on the Citadel the next day.

–

Citadel: Cassidy delivered the krogan power grid schematics, the turian banner and the Prothean obelisk. She had a nice chat with Ashley, who had just accepted Udina's offer to become a Spectre. She went with Garrus to a turian grill for lunch. She knew that Dr Chakwas was restocking the med bay's dextro supplies, though the turian cruiser had given them some. She looked on the Citadel directory and found a swimming pool. She went there, bought a suit and water shoes and swam laps, slowly in endurance building style.

The swimming was monotonous enough that she tranced into a daydream. Different professions of people went by on a stage. First a human ballerina, decked out in Nutcracker Suite style; then an asari exotic dancer, only in paint; a krogan carrying a train car; a volus pushed a lemonade stand across; two drell carrying a hanar across on a stretcher; a salarian carrying a smoking beaker ran across; a yahg came to the center and roared his rage out into the theater; a rachni walked across in a hard hat and orange vest, carrying an I beam; a vorcha came with a pick axe over his shoulder; a batarian dragged an empty cage on wheels; an elcor came out dressed like Maid Marian saying "Beseechingly, Romeo, my Romeo, wherefore art thou, my Romeo"; a quarian came out with a circuit board, some eezo and a power cell – she disappeared and appeared on the other side of the stage;

eight geth came out and formed a giant circle with their bodies and rolled across . . .

Coming in to a turn, she ran into a hand at her head. She pulled up to see one of the asari attendants looking at her. "I'm sorry to interrupt your swim, Commander, but you have an urgent com coming in. They asked you to check your omni-tool in the Spectre offices." Cassidy pulled herself out onto the edge and the attendant handed her a towel. "Thanks, I'll head right there." She grabbed her bag out of the locker, stopped at the shop up front and bought a set of sweats and grabbed a cab outside the building. She put the sweats on over her swimsuit in the cab up to the embassies. She still had wet hair and water shoes on, but at least she was warm by the time she got to the Spectre offices. She dug in her locked case and pulled out her omni-tool and attached that to her arm. Checking the messages, she saw one from Hackett marked urgent.

She went to the image projector and put in a com for Hackett. His image appeared, "There you are Commander, thanks for your promptness. We have an important project that now needs your immediate attention. Dr Bryson has been studying legends of a Reaper killer and he found and reported an important lead. But, C-Sec has been called to his office, and I need you to get down there and find out what happened and get this project back on track if you can." "OK, I'll change and get down there." "Let me know what you find. Hackett out." She went to the femSpectre's locker room and did a quick shower, dried and changed back to her fatigues. "EDI, meet me at Dr. Bryson's office." Then she took her bag and headed to get a cab to Dr Bryson's office. Garrus texted "Dinner?" She texted back, "Got something to do, don't know when I'll eat. Don't count on me for dinner."


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

When Cassidy and EDI had narrowed Garneau's location down to one cluster, Cassidy, "Alright, I'm going to stop for some take-out and then we'll head back to the ship. She drove over to the sushi shop she remembered and bought a sampler bento box, to go. Then she got back in with EDI and they went to the Normandy.

Mordin was on board, though there was still an hour left in the shore leave. Cassidy emptied her bag into the laundry basket in their room, then took her sushi to the mess table and asked Mordin to come join her for dinner. Mordin replied that he had eaten already but he would come to talk. "Its been nearly a week that you have been boosting Eve's immune system. Is she healthy enough yet?"

"Commander, I believe she has picked up another infection, this time in the lungs. We'll have to give her another couple days to knock that down." "OK, I have some other things for us to do for a couple days so, do what you need to do." She continued eating while Mordin chattered on about his work. Garrus came down with a bag in his hand. "I see you had the same idea I did." Mordin excused himself back to the med bay and Garrus took his place and dug his take-out out and started eating.

Cassidy looked at what Garrus had and inquired about one of the veggies on his plate. "This is a root vegetable with spicy seeds on the skin. Its called 'yurven'." "I'd like to take a taste. Will you slice me off a teeny bit with seed?" He gave her a dubious look. She said,"Look, we haven't had any allergy issues so far. If I have a reaction to this, Mordin is right over there, eh?" He cut a thin slice with seed and handed it over. She tasted it, chewed the seed, swallowed. "It doesn't taste like anything to me. I guess the dextro proteins can't dock with the levo receptors on my tongue. Oh well." "Hmm, let me try something of yours. What's supposed to be spicy on your plate?" She handed over a small lump of wasabi paste. He put that on his tongue, then swallowed. "Me, too. Got nothing."

When shore leave was over, she asked EDI to do a head count, to make sure everyone was back. They all were, so she directed Joker to head for that cluster they had narrowed down to, for a mission in the morning.

Then she took Garrus upstairs and they made sweet comforting love before falling exhaustedly asleep.

–

Garneau was dead and the mining employees had lost 10 years. Ann Bryson's messages to Garneau indicated that the artifacts were affecting people's behavior and he should shield the one he found ASAP. Cassidy said, "Joker head to the Citadel as soon as we are back on board." One of those artifacts was sitting right in the middle of the Citadel.

Back on board, she contacted Hackett to update him on the mission. He said he would arrange to get the mining employees in protective custody.

On the Citadel, Cassidy and EDI took a cab directly to Bryson's lab. They got the artifact shielded. Then they worked on determining where to find Ann Bryson. In her last message to her dad, she said that Reaper forces were closing in. She and EDI narrowed the search to one cluster and she got them into the cab and back to the Normandy as quick as she could. She ran to the CIC and put in their desination.

–

They had quite the fight, all the while hoping that the whole complex of pods didn't fall out from under them. Ann Bryson was being checked out by Dr Chakwas and they were hiding out for the night.

–

Back to the Citadel. Cassidy let Ann go ahead to her father's office for an hour, while she communicated with Hackett.

James said he wanted to go down to the office with them, so Cassidy, EDI and James went down. Ann decided that she would allow the contact with Leviathan so the they could trace it and find her father's murderer. They set up so that James was holding Ann. They dropped the shield, Leviathan made contact. James grew concerned as Ann's body thrashed around and wanted to put the shield up, but Cassidy said no, they needed more. Leviathan tried to get Ann to stand up, but James held her back. Blood came out Ann's nose. Cassidy put the shield up again.

They had it down to two systems. James was carrying Ann out to the cab. They dropped Ann at a med clinic, then returned to the Normandy. Cassidy directed Joker to the cluster they had found.

The first of the two systems was a bust, though they did locate a dextro food production facility that had warehouses full. The next system was the one.

–

"We will not fight for you, or for the lesser species, but for ourselves. The Reaper will be our slaves and they will pay their tribute in blood." Cassidy was shaking from the cold that had set in as the cold of the ocean had leeched away the heat of the mech. It took her a couple tries, but she got the mech to jet itself upward on an automated emergency return function. She was feeling very sluggish and tired. Finally the mech broke the surface and autopilot landed the mech on the deck and opened the lid. Blackness overtook her just then.

Garrus sniped yet another husk as James took down a Brute with his carnage setting. Garrus saw the diving mech break out of the water and go up then a controlled burn back to the deck. The lid opened and Cassidy fell out. "Cover her!" He ran to get her out as the brutes turned to focus on her. As he was picking her up, the nearest brute turned around and tangled with the other one. Cortez radioed "Garrus, James, I have control of the shuttle, get in!" Garrus jumped in, carrying Cassidy, James got in and covered them until the door came down and Cortez got them into the air. Garrus could see that her heartrate was lower than normal. Her skin was cold and clammy. He said, "She's freezing." James said, "There should be a thermal blanket in the emergency bin. Just a sec . . . Here." He unwrapped it, unfolded it and handed one end to Garrus and they finished unfolding it. The control end was by Garrus. He set the target temperature to "human" and let it start heating up.

Cortez called, "Shit, its one of the crawfishes" He banked hard and Garrus blocked James from falling on Cassidy. He felt her skin, it seemed more pink and warmer. "Come on, Cassidy, wake up!" Garrus urged. Cortez said, "That was interesting . . . like it got lassoed and flipped, its sinking. EDI, have Dr Chakwas meet us in the cargo bay, the Commander is down, hypothermia I'm guessing, they've got her in a thermal blanket already."

Cassidy hunched up and coughed. She tried to sit up, but Garrus said, "We're almost docked, just stay down, please." She nodded, regretted that, and laid her head back down. She was still cold inside, though the blanket felt awfully nice on the outside. They docked and the door opened. Dr Chakwas was there with an insulated mug. "Keep her where she is for the moment. James, support her to sit up a little." Garrus helped her up while James sat behind her to support her. Dr Chakwas handed Garrus the mug. "Help her drink that. Its hot chocolate." She went to take the mug, but her hands where shaking and so Garrus took the lid off and helped her drink. When she had finished the mug, Dr Chakwas asked if Garrus was up to carrying her up to their cabin. He nodded. "When you get her up there, take her to the shower, get her armor and her clothes off, raise the tub enclosure and run the shower on her until it fills the tub. Set the tub heat to medium. Let me know if she can't focus after an hour."

Garrus carried Cassidy to the elevator and followed instructions. He talked to her as he worked, occasionally asking questions about the dive, to which she tried to focus and give coherent answers. After she was in the tub for about 10 minutes her headache backed off enough and she felt warm enough to give him straight answers.

The door chimed and Garrus went to answer it. Parveen was there with two trays, she came in, set them down and left. Garrus came back to Cassidy, "Dinner is here, if you want to get dry and dressed." "Yea, okay." She pulled the plug off the drain and let Garrus help her stand. He handed her a towel, then a pile of clothing which included a set of sweats.

When she was dressed, she joined Garrus at the table and lifted the lid of her tray. There was beef stew, warm rye loaf, hot apple cobbler with a separate container of vanilla ice cream and two mugs, one steaming and one not. She tasted those, the hot one being hot tea and the other being iced tea. She ate, appreciatively. They were well into their desserts when her com showed a message from Hackett, asking for a report.

She went down to the QEC and contacted Hackett. She told him that the Leviathan would work on controlling the Reaper troops to go against other Reaper troops. Leviathan would direct people to the artifacts and let the troops take the artifacts where they needed to be. Hackett said, "Assuming we are successful, what do you think Leviathan will do after the war is over?" "My guess is they will enthrall people like they did to the miners. That is something that is worrying, but we can't worry it now, sir." "How is Dr Solus coming with the cure, Commander?" "The female krogan should be healthy enough now that he can use her tissue to make the antigen. I'll check with him in the morning." "Get some rest, Commander, you look like you need it. Hackett out." She sent a text message to Mordin asking him to join the morning breakfast meeting, she cc'd Samesh.

She went back upstairs and Garrus was waiting for her. They got in bed and he pulled her to him and held her while they both went to sleep.

–

Liara, Mordin and Parveen all arrived at the same time the next morning. Parveen took the cart back out with the trays from last night. "Shepard, I will take small tissue samples this morning, make test antigen. If successful, then could begin deployment this afternoon." "What do you mean, 'deployment'" "Need transport system, biological carrier. Water too slow . . . the Shroud! Original virus strain in storage there, can use as carrier, Shroud will blanket Tuchanka with virus on air stream. Originally built to repair Tuchanka's atmosphere."

Liara added "and used to distribute the genophage."

–

Tuchanka: "You should know that Urdnot Bakara calls you a friend." Cassidy shook hands with Bakara and then with Wrex. She had a memorial service for Mordin and a celebration to oversee for tonight.

–

They stood in ranks in front of the Memorial. Cassidy had the plank with "Dr Mordin Solus STG" on it. Garrus had a plaque with a photo of Mordin with Bakara in the background, listing underneath his accomplishments, ending with "Cured the genophage." EDI played a recording of a bagpipe playing "Amazing Grace" and Garrus put his plaque on the wall. When the bagpipe finished, EDI switched to a cornet playing "Taps". Cassidy walked up and put Mordin's plaque on the wall.

"Ms Allers is throwing a Bekenstein wake in the mess hall. Feel free to let your hair down until 2000." She went to the mess hall and Ken from Engineering led them all in a toast, "Though he would hardly let you get a word in edgewise, here's to a person who I respected." James continued "Though he went on and on and on, here's to a man who kept his focus and got the job done." Cassidy added "To Dr Mordin Solus, who was the very model of a scientist salarian, 'Somebody else might have gotten it wrong.' " They all drank.

Cassidy got a text from EDI, "Councilor Valern wants you in the comm room." She showed it to Garrus and then left to see what new crisis was brewing. She returned about 20 minutes later and said to Garrus, "Valern thinks Udina needs looking at. We have an appointment tomorrow morning."


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Joker said "Commander, nobody's answering" "Let me try to raise Ashley . . . Ash, what's going on?" "Commander, Cerberus troops are everywhere, they've got control of the docks and at C-Sec HQ." "Alright, we'll get in and clear out C-Sec, meet you when we can." "Joker, get us near C-Sec HQ and we'll take the shuttle."

–

Cassidy saw the assasin jump down in front of Valern. She blew out the glass and stripped the assanin's shields, Garrus overloaded his shields, EDI sent an incendiary, Javik lifted him, James and Liara were covering the way they had come. Someone opened up an automatic sniper rifle on him from somewhere below and to the right of her. As Cassidy jumped down to get between the assasin and Valern, a biotic from an upper floor pulled the assasin up and out of harms way. A heavy mech landed behind Cassidy. She pulled Valern with her into cover from the mech, but they were exposed to the upper floor. She directed everybody else to concentrate on the mech. She put a singularity in the window where the assasin had disappeared, then followed that with a mini-grenade from her Krysae. Jondam Bau appeared behind the mech and overloaded it to its explosive doom.

James shouted, "Got you, bitch." But Liara yelled, "Goddess, he's getting away, out into the Presidium." Bailey came on and said, "I've got a squad car coming to you. You need to get to the other Councilors before he does." Cassidy took Garrus, Javik and EDI with her, instructed Liara and James to get a cab and follow them. Bau said he would get Valern to safety.

–

Udina drew the gun on Tevos, so Cassidy shot him.

–

They got the Councilors back to C-Sec HQ and stayed with them until Bailey had enough troops returning to give the Councilors guard back to their quarters. Cassidy offered her team to go sweep the Alliance docking control offices. Bailey accepted the offer and Ashley went along with them. There were a few straggler Cerberus troops that had been stranded when the retreat had been called. The troops refused Cassidy's offer of arrest and fought to the death. When they were sure there were no more, they returned to the entry where Alliance marines met them and took over security. Cassidy asked Bailey if there was more he needed. He replied that he had taken enough of her time and wished her luck out there.

Cassidy directed everybody back to the shuttle, which was still where they had been dropped off. Ashley came up behind and stopped Cassidy, apologized for holding her at gunpoint, then asked if she could join the Normandy. Cassidy smiled and said "Just keep your gun pointed at the Reapers, eh?" They got on the shuttle and went back to the Normandy.

–

When Cassidy was done updating Hackett and Anderson, she directed Joker back out to the Hades Gamma cluster. They had unfinished scanning to do there.

–

That evening after dinner, Cassidy said, "I was talking with EDI earlier. One of the things she asked about was the purpose of organic life, beyond propogating the species. So, that got me wondering, when we win this war, and have that family ceremony, well, are you interested in children in some way – surrogacy or adoption or advanced tech?" "Cassidy, yes. However we can manage it, yes. I've always pictured myself as a less authoritarian father than mine has been. So, let's see what's available when the time comes. How does that sound to you?" "Sounds like a plan to me."

She pulled him to her and kissed him. He got her top undone and placed his hands on her bare waist. They went on from there.

–

They were on the bed, Cassidy on top, coming back down from peak, when her com system began blinking. She leaned down and kissed him again. Then she rolled off of him and tapped the com, "audio only, request accepted". Samantha's voice came on. "Commander, I've intercepted coms indicating a large movement of Cerberus troops, looks like the assault is aimed at one of their inactive bases. If they're so interested, I thought we might be also?" "Good catch, Samantha. Give the coordinates to Joker, we'll go check it out." She went to get showered.

–

Cassidy asked Jacob what Dr Cole was to him. He said they were together and talked about how they met. "That, uh, leads me to a favor I want to ask. Before you take us to the Alliance, will you officiate our wedding, on the Normandy?" "I'd be honored to do that for you, Jacob." "Thanks. Now I gotta go propose." Cassidy laughed.

–

They got everybody else out on the shuttles. Jacob and Brynn came on board the Normandy. Cassidy assigned them to Jack's space under engineering. She went to see Samesh. "Can you do a wedding cake tomorrow? Our new guests want to do the wedding here on the ship and I thought a cake would be nice, if we have the appropriate supplies?" "I will be happy to make one and I can use what we have on hand, Commander. I will go now to get the layers baking so they can cool and be ready for frosting in the morning." He put down his book and called for Raja to meet him in the galley.

–

In the morning, they went to scan the Fortis system and did one ground mission retrieval.

In preparation for the lunch time ceremony, Cassidy put on her formal uniform. Garrus dressed in that black outfit he had worn at their own wedding. "Jacob has asked me to stand as best man for him. He said that Gabby is going to stand for Brynn." "That's sweet of Gabby to do." "And EDI is going to be videographer for them." "I think she'll do a very nice job of that."

They went down to the mess hall. EDI said, "Commander, here is a clear film crib sheet for you to the traditional Myanmar ceremony Brynn has asked for." "OK, so the first I take Garrus and Jacob to their places and then Gabby and Brynn, right?" "Yes, Commander. I will start the music. It is a melodic sitar instrumental."

The music started and the crowd in the mess hall quieted. She walked Garrus over to the med bay where Jacob came out and she walked them to the stage left side of the stairs, where there was a small table in the center. Then she went back to Life Support and Gabby and Brynn came out. Brynn looked gorgeous in a burnt orange dress with a matching lacy scarf, her hair pulled up in a swept back bee-hive wrapped in a long string of pearls. Gabby had on a two piece dark peach with cream color fractal patterns. She escorted them up to the other side of the table. Ken came forward with a an board that was a work of art in its carving, that had a parchment paper with calligraphy around the Alliance Registration of Civil Union form. Ken placed the board on the table, then stepped back. Brynn went up, took the pen on the table and signed the parchment, then signed a practical copy underneath. Jacob, then Gabby, Garrus and Cassidy all signed in turn. Cassidy snuck a peek at her crib sheet.

Ken came up and picked up the board, trading with Samesh for a silver bowl filled with water. Cassidy returned to the center and motioned Brynn and Jacob to advance. She faced them toward each other and placed their hands palmward toward each other then palms touching. She took a glittery gold wooden chain from Gabby and walked around Brynn and Jacob wrapping the chain loosely around their necks resting on their shoulders. She read a Sanskrit mantra, translated and adapted, "May God protect you both together. May God nourish you together. May you gain energy to know the Truth. May your study together be filled with light. May you not oppose each other. Om Peace, Peace, Peace."

Then she asked them to clasp their hands and dip them into the water together. She told them they could raise their hands, palm to palm and she took a long white cloth and wrapped their hands together. She raised her voice, "Do you, Brynn Anelle Cole take Jacob Grant Taylor to be your legal spouse?" "I do." whispered Brynn. "Do you Jacob Grant Taylor take Brynn Anelle Cole to be your legal spouse?" "I do." Jacob nearly shouted. "By your declared intents and by my authority as ship's captain, I pronounce you spouses to each other. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the galaxy's latest married couple, Jacob and Brynn. You may kiss your bride, Jacob." They stepped around the table, lowered their wrapped hands, and kissed. The audience applauded.

Lunch was served. Brynn and Jacob sat at chairs on either side of the small table and Cassidy removed the wrapping from their hands. The chained stayed resting on their shoulders, strung between them. Samesh removed the silver bowl and came back with a single plate full of finger foods. Brynn picked up a piece and waited for Jacob to do the same. They ate their pieces at the same time. Then they proceeded to eat more casually.

Cassidy sat down at the main table across from Garrus and Parveen served her. Samantha sat next to her. "Oh, that was so lovely" Samantha said, a tear crawling down her cheek. Diana Allers sat down next to Samantha and took her hand for a moment. "It certainly was, Sam. Very lovely."

After 20 minutes, Samesh rang a small triangle and said "The blessed couple will now cut their cake." Jacob and Brynn walked up. She picked up the slicer and he put his hand over hers. They cut a small piece which they placed on a plate that Gabby was holding for them. Brynn took a bit and Jacob took a bit and they fed each other. More applause. They went back to their table and Raja began cutting and Parveen started serving cake slices. Garrus got 3 cupcakes.

Cassidy went back up to the table, "Brynn, where did that dress come from? Its absolutely gorgeous." "I've kept it carefully wrapped in my wedding box which has traveled with me everywhere since my mother helped me fill it starting on my 16th birthday. Same for the carved board, the chain and the white embroidered cloth. Also, this table folds down quite small. My father made the table and the board. I made the chain. The cloth has been passed down for many generations. My mother made the dress." "Wow, that's really special. I'm glad you've been able to keep it with you all that time." Brynn reached into a pocket and pulled out an enameled bronze bracelet. "Please accept this as the traditional gift to the master-of-ceremonies." "That's quite elegant. Thank you." EDI walked up and handed Brynn an OSD, "The video file, from opening music to cake. I believe I captured the faces of all the guests, for you to remember." Brynn handed EDI an embroidered cloth bracelet, "A traditional gift for the photographer / videographer." EDI allowed Brynn to tie it around EDI's left wrist. "That looks to be skilled hand embroidery, very finely crafted and the design is very appealing. Thank you."

–

The Normandy met up with a Fifth Fleet ship and Jacob and Brynn transferred off the Normandy. Cassidy hugged them both, saying "Congratulations to you both. I hope to see you again soon."

Once the airlock was closed, EDI said, "Shepard, I once stated to you that I had no material wants beyond hardware upgrades. I must amend that now, since I find that this bracelet now holds great value to me. I had not understood organics' attachments to sentimental objects, but now I do." Joker said, "That's called emotional growth, EDI, and it looks nice on you, too, uh, the bracelet, I mean."


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

The next morning, Cassidy received a message from Hackett asking them to take out a Cerberus fighter base on Noveria. In the afternoon they went back to pick up some items that they had scanned but had been chased out by Reapers.

–

They were coming back from a retrieval mission when Wrex's ID showed on her omni-tool. "How's it going, Wrex?" asked Cassidy. "We're saving the turians, but we're spread a bit thin. You remember on Tuchanka that mechanized Rachni?" "Yea." "Well I sent a team to check a place where we picked up what might be where they're making the mech Rachni. But that team went silent. I'm asking you to join with my best team to go see what happened to them and take care of the situation." "All right, send me the coordinates, we'll head straight there."

–

Cassidy saved the queen, again. She could tell Garrus was deliberately not saying that he disagreed, but she know he did disagree with her on this.

Back on the surface, she was thrilled when she heard Grunt's voice. "EDI, tell Dr Chakwas that Grunt's coming home and he'll need some attention." They got in the shuttle and Cassidy found the cabinet with towels and started toweling the Rachni blood off of him.

Dr Chakwas met them at the shuttle with the small forklift and a board on the forks. They helped Grunt crawl over onto the board and Dr Chakwas stuck a krogan size mug with a krogan size straw in his grasp and helped him get the straw in his mouth the right way. "Suck that down, Grunt. You know, the energy drink I worked up for you." She motioned the fork lift driver to drive Grunt over to the elevator. He finished the mug by the time they got to the elevator. "I can walk now, doctor" said Grunt and he rolled off the board onto his feet. He was a little wobbly though, so Cassidy took one side and Garrus the other and escorted him into the elevator with Dr Chakwas.

They escorted him into med bay onto one of the beds. Dr Chakwas took his mug and went out to the galley. Cassidy saw Samesh take a big pitcher off the back counter and pour from it into the mug. She took the pitcher with one arm and came back with mug and pitcher. She handed the mug back to Grunt, who started on it right away. She put the pitcher on the table next to his bed, "You fill that up as much as you want. Probably 3 more mugs worth in there. Cassidy said, "Grunt, when she releases you, you can stay in the life support room. We'll drop you off at Tuchanka in the morning."

All Garrus had to say before they went to sleep was "Siding with the giant spiders, again, Cassidy? I hope you know what you're doing."

Cassidy dreamed. She was back watching the stage. A pair of jugglers were passing clubs between them. They had six clubs between them. Then another pair of people came and started spinning two jumping ropes. The rachni queen emerged, three workers in her claws and jumped into the ropes. She started throwing the workers into the club pattern with the other two as she jumped a started chanting,

"Not last night, but the night before,

A whole lotta robbers came knocking at my door,

as I ran out, they ran in,

hit me o'er the head with a rolling pin."

I came to and chased them out,

The dog he bit them and they did shout,

The dog bit one, the dog bit two,

How many many robbers will he chew?

1, 2, 3 . . ."

–

They dropped Grunt at Tuchanka, then resumed scanning for resources.

At lunch, Liara came and sat across from Cassidy, next to Garrus. "Shepard, when we're done here, will you meet me in my office, please?" "Sure thing, Liara. Hand me the sugar . . . thanks."

–

Samara stayed behind to discuss Falere's plans. Cassidy shook hands with each of them. Samara shook hands with Garrus and nodded to everybody else.

Cassidy and company got back into the shuttle. Ashley said, "I heard Samesh saying they were going to do pizza tonight." James said, "Good. I like mine with hot sausage and spicy peppers." Ashley replied, "Pepperoni, mushroom, black olives are my favorites." Cassidy said, "I like most anything, but the very best is Chicago style, very deep dish, ingredients under the cheese, sauce on top of the cheese." Liara said, "Oh, I didn't realize that pizza was so variable. I had some on the Citadel when we celebrated Joker's birthday and all of them had a thin crust, sauce topped with cheese topped with ingredients. I'd like to try the Chicago style some time."

–

They went to the Citadel the next day. Cassidy gave the crew 24 hours of leave.

Cassidy spent the morning running errands. Investigate the volus, fix the medi-gel sabotage, arrange the trade with Tactus. She messaged Garrus about lunch, he replied to meet him at the cab stand at the dock. When she got there, he was waiting with a big bag on his arm. "What's in the bag?" "A picnic lunch and other things." They got into the cab, he set it to manual control. "Where are we going?" "Someplace we're not supposed to."

They landed on top of one of the crosswalks. Garrus dug out a red & white checked picnic cloth, pulled out a couple small items that when activated took in air until they were floor pillows. He pulled out a small basket and set places for each of them. He put a red box in front of him and a blue box in front of her. He poured wine.

She had a turkey with avacado spread panini, an apple walnut fruit salad, salted cucumber chunks and a sampler of cheese slices.

When they had finished their sandwiches, he pulled a ceramic container out and opened it. One one side, the ceramic was decorated in red, the other blue. Each side had a reservoir of chocolate and an assortment of items to be dipped. She started with a strawberry. She smiled. He said, "Now that's the carefree smile I haven't seen for awhile now." "Well this was a very nice thought. Where'd you get the idea?" "There's this shop that does special occasions. They had this package listed 'Romantic picnic lunch.' All I had to do was pick which type of boxes to put in." "Most human guys wouldn't even go to the trouble of checking the special occasions shop. Romantic kudos for you, love." His flanges relaxed.

He stood up and pulled her to her feet and stepped them away from the cloth. He activated his omni-tool and clicked something. The opening music from Fleet & Flotilla started playing. He pulled her close, "Just relax and follow my lead." He began what she guessed must be a basic waltz and spun them around in slow circles. The music segued into Johnny Cash's "I Walk the Line." He lifted his arm and said "you spin, yes and come back", they continued their slow waltz to end of the music. He leaned her over and kissed her. "Wow" she said and smiled big.

They went back to the picnic cloth and finished their fondue. Then they packed up and returned to the dock. "Meet me at Cherise's at 1900, dress nice." she said.

She continued with errands all afternoon. She supported Ashley and Cortez at the Memorial Wall. She started tracking down batarian code use. When she got out of the Spectre office, Khalisa bint Sinan al-Jilani stopped her. "How do you explain this, Commander?" She pulled up a long distance photo of her and Garrus dancing. "Check your Alliance civil records oh about 7 – 8 months back." said Cassidy. Khalisa did a search and said, "Your name is here in civil unions . . . You got married to . . Garrus Vakarian? Commander, how do you explain that no human is good enough for you?" One of the turian C-Sec officers walked up and said, "Would you like me to take her in for inciting a riot, Commander?" "Thank you, Officer Patrus Vakarian, but she's just hoisting her own petard. Grow up, Khalisa. All these members of different species are people, with personalities. Heroes can be found in every one of those species, as I see every time I go out there and take on the Reapers and Cerberus."

A small crowd had gathered and when she finished speaking, they applauded. Khalisa gave Cassidy a frustrated frown and walked off. Patrus encouraged the crowd to disperse.

An asari with her young daughter were still there. The little one said, "Mother, can I talk to Commander Shepard, please?" Cassidy turned and held out her hand to shake the girl's hand, "Hello, what's your name?" "Harane. That reporter said you got married. How come I never saw your wedding picture in the news, like other famous people?" Her mother said, "Harane, that's rude, I'm sure the Commander wanted privacy." "Here, Harane, just for you." She pulled up, signed and sent a copy of the pic Hannah had taken of the two of them. "Mother, you have to put in your code for me to accept this file. . . oh, there it is. Oh, Mother, look! Don't they look so elegant together? Your dress was very pretty and suited you nicely. I'll keep it private, I promise." Her mother pulled her away and said "Thank you, Commander." Harane turned around and said, "I want to be a Spectre like you someday!" Cassidy smiled and waved goodbye.

Cassidy went back to her errands. When that gun was put to her back, she turned to see Balak. She also saw Officer Noles and another C-Sec officer with their guns pointed at Balak. She talked Balak down and he begrudgingly committed the remainder of the Batarian ships to the cause. Noles asked, "You want me to arrest him?" "I want you to put a bullet through his head, but we're all making sacrifices today. Let me sign your report."


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

She went back to the Normandy to change. She showered and put on the red two piece with black patterning. She slid on the matching black lace gloves. She put on the red cowboy boots. She was checking herself in the mirror when Garrus walked in. He stopped, staring, "Spirits. I don't know if I'll be able to let you out of this room." He came up, put his hands at her bare waist and nuzzled her exposed neck at his scar.

She pushed him away, "Later, lover. Get dressed, we have a dinner date ahead of us. Hm, Kasumi said this dress would get your attention." "You have no idea how right she was."

–

Cherise's was an upscale dinner theater kind of place. They approached the maitre d' , "Welcome Commander, Adviser. Please follow me, your table is ready." They were seated at the prime viewing spot. Their server brought out two of everything: for her, a basket of bread and dish of herb infused oil. Cassidy ordered the special, which was lemon-pepper marinated mahi mahi grilled with asparagus, new red potatoes, and wild rice.

For dessert she had crème brulee, the maitre d' came and set the flame to the brulee at their table.

The house lights went down at 2000. The music began, the overture to "Cats".

–

Cassidy was humming "The Magical Mister Mistoffolees" as they left. They walked down the street to the hotel arm in arm and up to the 6th floor. She waved her omni-tool at a door and they went in, thoughts on nothing but the other as he brought her close and kissed her deeply. She let him do as he so had been wanting to do since he first saw her in that dress.

–

They walked down the street toward a cab stand in the morning. Along the way, Cassidy noticed a pet shop. She veered inside. Plenty of fish, some lizards, spiders, snakes. Then she heard an insistent, "Myack!" from the back. There was a cage with a gorgeous dark medium hair torby female cat. The cat was sticking her paw out clawing at the information screen on the front of her cage. Cassidy stuck her fingers in and stroked the silky fur and got purrs for her effort. "I think you would make an excellent ship's cat. I will call you Callista." Callista rubbed her face on Cassidy's fingers and licked. "Looks like she's happy with your proposal, Cassidy." said Garrus. Cassidy looked back at him, "and you, any objections?" "No, I've read about the tradition of keeping cats on human ships on Earth. She seems quite affectionate." Cassidy arranged for Callista's supplies to be delivered to the ship. She took Callista herself in a carry case.

Joker joined them at the docking bay. "Shepard, Garrus. Looks like you two had quite the night out . . . and is that a cat carrier?" Garrus said, "She took me a theatrical production with songs like 'Rum Tum Tugger' and it seems she was inspired." Cassidy held up the carrier for Joker to see inside, "Joker this is Callista. Callista, this is Joker." Callista said, "Mrrow".

Up in the ship's cabin, Cassidy let Callista out of the carrier and let her explore at her own pace. Cassidy and Garrus changed out of their finery. Then they began their standard morning routine.

–

Liara and Parveen came in. Parveen had the usual two trays, but this time there were two small bowl on top. Parveen looked around, "Where is the kitty?" Liara said, "Kitty, what's that?" Callista walked out from the area behind the head of the bed, "Mrrow". Parveen put down the trays and walked over to pet her. "You are magnificent! Commander, her name is . . .?" Cassidy said "Parveen, Liara, this is Callista. Callista, meet Parveen and Liara." Parveen scratched Callista behind the ears, "Sorry, but I need to go. I will see you later, your majesty." Parveen turned and picked up the bowls on top of the trays. "Commander, these are food and water for Callista. Where do you want them?" "Put them under this table over here. That should be out of the way enough for her to eat in privacy."

EDI said "Shepard, there is a delivery of supplies for Callista. Would you like them brought to your cabin?" "Yes, EDI, have them brought up here, except for the crate of cat food. Have that sent to the galley."

Finally, Cassidy and Liara sat down to their breakfasts. Soon however the door chimed "Its open" Two marines came in carrying crates. They put them down near the door and left. Liara said, "What supplies does a kitty need, Shepard?" "There's a scratching post in there and a few sleeping cups, some combs, claw clippers, and such. Cats used to need litter boxes, but nowadays they're all trained to use the toilet. Speaking of which, I need to get her an access door put in the bathroom door." EDI said, "The ship's design anticipated such an event and an access door is already part of the door. I have unlocked it. When Callista approaches it will slide to the side to allow her to pass."

"Where are we headed today, Shepard?" "More scanning, the Hades Nexus this time."

Liara went over the highlights of the latest into she had from her disintegrating network. Cassidy said "What have you heard about the quarians? I haven't gotten anything from Tali, lately." "They recalled their Pilgrims and purchased a lot of supplies at Illium and Omega. It looks like they may be going to war with the geth." "Damn it. I encouraged them to stay away. The geth will obliterate them if they push an attack."

While they ate, Callista came over, jumped from the bed to the table and to the couch. She walked over and rubbed herself against Liara, purring. Liara hesitantly touched her fur. "She is warm and silky. I can see why humans made pets of them, they are comforting." "They are also excellent hunters. If mice or rats or other vermin get into a ship, the ship's cat is the primary form of extermination." Liara's eyes went dark for a moment, "Oh my, she is more attuned to the cosmos than anything besides the asari." "We've always figured that cats know more than they let on." Cassidy smiled.

EDI came on, "Shepard, Admiral Hackett is asking for you in the com room." "I'll be right there." Cassidy and Liara left. Callista curled herself up in the warm spot where Liara had been sitting.

–

Admiral Hackett said, "Shepard, we have received a request for assistance from the quarians. They are apparently in over their heads with the geth. They are offering their fleets against the Reapers if we can help. There's a personal message attached, for you." He hit a button, and Tali's voice came on, "Shepard, Gerrel has involved the liveships and now they are vulnerable. Please come and do what you can." Hackett said "So, yes, go and assess the situation. Do what you can to get the quarian fleet for us."

"Joker, change heading to geth space." "You can't help but add spice to my life can you, Commander? Heading changed."

–

Cassidy let her feelings override good manners, she punched Gerrel. "You endangered your fleet and my mission. Get off my ship!"

Admiral Raan said, "You have to understand, Commander. Our fleet has been taking heavy losses." "Which is why you were supposed to retreat." Legion came into the room. Raan exclaimed, "What the . ."

Cassidy said, "Everybody calm down. This is Legion, it helped us take down the Collectors. It disabled the weapons and shields of the dreadnought as a gesture of cooperation." Legion said, "We want to help." Xen said, "If I could examine it . . ." Cassidy said, "Stop right there. Let me make it crystal clear. Legion is my friend and my guest aboard this ship. You will not touch it." Xen pushed, "But the scientific benefits . . ." "Are off the table. Are we clear?"

Cassidy stalked out of the room. Tali tentatively approached out in the hall, but backed away. Cassidy stopped, took a deep breath, held it, then slowly let it out. She turned back, "Tali?" "Cassidy, may I accompany you to your cabin? We can talk there." Cassidy nodded and they set off.

When they got there, Callista was still curled up on the couch. "Cassidy, what is that animal?" Cassidy went and scooped up Callista and put Callista's front paws on her shoulder and supported her feet with her arm. Callista started purring. Cassidy said, "This is a cat. Her name is Callista." Cassidy turned so the Callista and Tali could look at each other. "Callista, meet Tali."

"Samesh, I need lunch for me, Garrus, and a quarian, up top. Garrus, please join me and Tali for lunch in the cabin."

Garrus quickly arrived. They sat on the couch and Cassidy transferred Callista to her lap, where Callista settled herself and continued purring as Cassidy petted her.

Tali said, "I am in so much over my head. I begged the other admirals to negotiate and told them about the schism between the geth and heretics and about Legion. Damn it, we pushed the geth straight into the arms of the Reapers."

The door chime rang, "Its open" called Garrus. Parveen came in, deposited the trays and left. They sorted their trays and began eating. Cassidy said "Legion's idea to cut out a server linking the geth together should weaken them somewhat, maybe give your liveships a chance to back out." "The civilians didn't want this war. Without Admiral Koris there, I'm afraid they might try to run for the mass relay, right in front of the geth. " Cassidy patted Tali's arm, "How about this, we'll get go get Koris, have the shuttle drop us with Legion to take care of the server while Koris comes back up." "Sounds like a plan." said Tali.

"Garrus, would you look in those cases. There should be fleece lined cups for a cat to curl up in. Yes, that's it. Here, let me see . . . ah, there's a switch to turn on the heater. There, Callista, that should be a nice warm cozy place to nap." The cup was next to her on the couch and she put Callista in it, then stood up. Callista turned about, clawed the bottom a bit then settled in, wrapping her tail around her nose.

–

They got Admiral Koris into the shuttle. "Maybe there's time to get to my crew . . . This is Admiral Koris to my crew, anybody there? . . . anybody please respond!" Koris looked up at Legion. "You must be Legion?" "Yes, Admiral Koris." "Tali mentioned you. Why are we not returning to space?" Cassidy said, "We are going to remove a geth server from the system, to help keep your liveships safe, Admiral. Lieutenant Cortez will take you back to the fleet, while we do that."

–

Cassidy got out of the shuttle, the images from the server burning in her vision. "Garrus, I'm sorry, we're going to have to take a working dinner. Would you bring our trays to the war room? I'm going to stay in my armor. I suspect that there's more to do yet today.

She went directly to the war room. Legion and Tali followed. Admiral Raan said, "We have located the Reaper base, Commander."


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

The lights on the Reaper were out. The geth had invited the Quarians to return and live on Rannoch with them. Tali had her facemask off looking into the sunset. Cassidy had Garrus at her back. It was a good end to a long day. She turned around and met Garrus halfway in a very heartfelt kiss, both expressing relief at her living through the fight with the Reaper. She did have a few burnt spots on her neck and ear where the beam had come a little too close, but she wasn't feeling that just yet.

Tali turned around and said, "So, I'm coming with you. I'm going to see the rest of this war through on the Normandy." Cassidy turned around, "Are you sure, Tali? Your fleet could use you." "Yes, but I'll be more useful with you." "Welcome back, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy. There's the shuttle. Let's go."

She went to see Dr Chakwas first thing. The burns were starting to claim her attention in a serious way. Dr Chakwas put some goop on her and put a sealant over the area to keep it smearing off in her sleep. "I'll need to change that first thing in the morning. So come see me before your breakfast with Liara." "Will do, doc."

She met Garrus up in their cabin where he was playing with Callista with one of the fishing rod toys. "She looked bored." he said. Cassidy smiled and got out of her armor and into the shower. She came out and climbed in bed and forgot what she had meant to say to Garrus. She gave up and surrendered to sleep. Callista came up and laid down on Cassidy's pillow leaning on Cassidy's neck and head and purring. Garrus laughed quietly to himself and climbed in bed, surrendering easily to sleep as well.

–

Cassidy got up early. Dr Chakwas assigned Cassidy to light duty for the day. The burned skin had been removed and the dermal regen process had stimulated the regrowth, but it would take the day. Cassidy went and got in touch with Admiral Hackett to bring him up to speed on the situation. She relayed one of the Primes into the call and the Prime and the Admiral worked out how to get started on their new alliance.

She told Joker to head to the Hades Nexus. Scanning only, today. Ground retrievals tomorrow.

She went back up to have her breakfast meeting with Liara. Liara said that the news had not yet gotten out about last night's events. Cassidy replied that her next appointment was with Diana for that very purpose.

Diana's interview actually extended to a hour and a half. Callista insisted on being on camera. When they were done with the questions about the geth – quarian war, Diana asked "Shepard, my producers would like to do a soft piece about you and Garrus. I'll work up some questions and maybe tomorrow evening we three can work out what we can talk about and what you would like to keep private." "I'll think about it, Diana. That's all I can say until I sound Garrus out about the idea." "Good enough for now." Diana reached over and scritched Callista behind the ears. Callista's purrs grew louder. Diana took her camera and left.

Cassidy asked EDI to bring her platform up. Cassidy went to the case that had the scratching post in it and started taking pieces out. EDI arrived. "I thought I might need an extra pair of hands to build this." "I am pleased to help." said EDI. They set to work, Callista indicating her interest by jumping on the pieces at inopportune moments, provoking Cassidy's laughter after the third time. Finally they had it all together. It had four levels, hidey holes on top and in the base and several basking shelves. EDI helped rearrange the furniture in the room a little to make room for it in the corner beyond Cassidy's night stand.

Garrus came into the room looking worried. "My father sent an urgent com request. I thought I'd take it up here." EDI said, "I think I'll head back to the bridge." Cassidy asked "Do you want me to go?" Garrus said, "No, I want you to hear this, too." They sat on the couch and Garrus accepted the request. "Father, are you there?" "Yes, Garrus, we are trying to get to an evacuation shuttle. Solana's leg is broken. Its going to be close." "What happed to Solana?" "Wrong place, wrong time. One of the Reaper beams kicked up a lot of rocks, one of which impacted her." Solana's voice, "I'll be fine, Garrus. Is Cassidy there?" "I'm here, Solana." said Cassidy. "The family officially accepted Garrus' request to bring you into the family. We played back the call when Mother accepted you and there were no serious objections. So we have a lot planning to do." Garvin's voice, "Gotta make a last push here . . ." and the call cut off.

Cassidy held Garrus, forehead to forehead, both projecting their hopes out into the galaxy. Callista came up and inserted herself behind Garrus' neck under his crest, wedged herself firmly in there and started purring. Garrus flanges relaxed a little and he said, "How did we get by before you, Callista?" Cassidy leaned in and kissed him. "Do you want to do lunch down there or up here?" "Why don't we go socialize a bit? They will call when their shuttle gets wherever its going. We could use the distraction." "Ok, let's go."

Callista jumped down and ran out the door the moment it opened for them. Cassidy shrugged and said "EDI, you may open doors to let Callista go where she wants on the ship, except the war room, the bridge and engineering, and people's quarters, unless they tell you its OK to let her in there." "So noted, Shepard."

Callista followed Cassidy and Garrus into the mess hall. Samesh saw her and "Her Majesty, Callista, graces us with her presence!" Cassidy said "Please, Samesh, don't allow anyone to feed her out of hand, otherwise she'll get too rotund to jump up where she wants." "I will pass the word, Commander. Sit, sit, your lunches will be ready presently."

Liara came out of her room and Callista went to entwine herself in Liara's legs. "Well, hello!" "Mrrow!" Liara came and sat next to Cassidy. She quietly said "Garrus, I've been monitoring turian com channels. I just heard, your father and sister did make it onto one of the last shuttles and their shuttle cleared the fighting." "Thank you" said both Garrus and Cassidy together. They all enjoyed their lunch. Callista went exploring.

–

Cassidy and Garrus were finishing their dinner. Callista had come back in sometime before them and was laying on the very top of her tower.

Garrus said, "How was your afternoon?" "I practiced my forms. Got some laundry done. You?" "Calibrations. You know it was annoying when Legion stuck his nose into my work, but now I miss him." "Yea, I understand, I miss him, too." "Ping pong tonight?" "Sure, I haven't played for awhile."

Garrus beat her 2 straight games. "You okay, tonight? You seemed a touch slower than usual." "Who dodged a Reaper beam time and again yesterday? Seriously though, dermal regen always takes some energy out of me. Here, you can play Ashley." and she handed the paddle to a surprised Ashley who had just come out of the elevator. Cassidy went and sat on a crate to watch, feeling worn out.

One of the crew, Cassidy couldn't bring his name to mind, came and sat by her. "Hey Commander. Your cat, she came down here this afternoon. She got one of the ping pong balls and was batting it and chasing it everywhere. It was pretty funny. We would go get it if it got where she couldn't reach and toss it back to her. Cortez was concerned that she would get in the way of his welding, but she didn't bat the ball anywhere near there, like she knew it was dangerous." "They say cats have a sixth sense." said Cassidy.

Ashley was holding her own against Garrus. The game stretched out for several minutes before Garrus finally slammed a game point home. The second game went on the same way, but Ashley managed to put some spin on the ball and her game point bounced in a funky direction that Garrus couldn't quite reach. They both looked determined for the third game. Tali came in and sat on another crate and watched. The game point came when Ashley tried to spin it and it ended as a pop-up. Garrus faked one direction, then slammed it behind her. "Good game, sirrah." said Ashley as she put her paddle on the table.

Tali said, "Cassidy, if you will play gently, I'll play with you." Garrus handed Tali his paddle and Cassidy went up and took the paddle off the table. They batted the ball back and forth and Tali managed to score a few points. Then Cassidy's vision narrowed and she said, "I don't feel so . . " and she fainted.

Garrus ran over, picked her up and took her to the elevator where the crew man opened it for them. Garrus said "Dr Chakwas, I'm bringing Cassidy in. She fell unconscious while playing ping pong in the cargo bay." Garrus got her into the med bay and placed her on the bed that Dr Chakwas indicated. Dr Chakwas ran a body scan, then, frowning, she took a blood sample and set it to spinning in one of her machines. "Hypoglycemic shock. Low blood sugar. Was this ping pong game very energetic?" Garrus looked chagrined, "Not the one with Tali, but the previous one with me was fairly energetic, yes." Dr Chakwas hooked an IV needle into Cassidy's arm and put up a glucose solution to drip.

"She was on light duty because of the dermal regen on her burns. I know you guys didn't think of ping pong as being duty of any kind, but I've seen how fast some of those games can get. That is strenuous cardiac exercise and she didn't have the glucose stores for it because of her biotics use much of the day yesterday, then the burns, then the dermal regen is dipping into her stores. And, I'm willing to bet that she practiced her martial arts forms this afternoon." "You're right, she mentioned doing that. What do you need me to do, doctor?" "I'm going to keep her here a couple hours to get this and another bag into her system. If she's coherent, then I'll let you take her upstairs if you will take a milkshake up with you. Make sure she drinks the whole thing before she sleeps. She is on medical leave for the next 24 hours, nothing more strenuous than walking and talking. Then we'll see."

Dr Chakwas asked Samesh to meet Garrus in the galley and show Garrus how to make milkshakes for the Commander.

Cassidy opened her eyes about halfway into the second glucose bag. Dr Chakwas checked her focus, but she was still fuzzy. Garrus held her hand and said, "We played a little too hard, love. Should have remembered that you needed to take it easy." Cassidy nodded, a little absently. "Go get a milkshake and bring it here for her, please, Garrus." So, he did.

Samesh came in with a big container of more milkshake, while Garrus carried a tall glass with a long straw. Cassidy took the tall glass and started on it. Cassidy said, "Hey, Samesh, put chocolate syrup in the rest of it that you have there." Samesh smiled, "yes, Commander" and he left and returned with it a couple minutes later.

He took a spoonful and handed it to her, "Here, is that chocolate enough for you, Commander?" She tasted it, "That's good, Samesh, thank you. Make it strawberry for lunch tomorrow, okay?" "Yes, ma'am" and he left.

Garrus refilled her cup. Dr Chakwas looked and saw the second bag was nearly empty. She said, "Let's see if you are up to standing, Commander." Garrus helped her off the bed. "How's your head, Commander?" she said. "I have a headache, but balance seems good." said Cassidy. The doctor handed the remainder of extra milkshake to Cassidy, "Alright then, I'm letting your husband escort you to your cabin. You can go to bed after you finish all that milkshake, Commander. I'll come up there to check on your blood levels at 0600." Garrus walked her out to the elevator and up to their room.

She sat at her desk chair to finish the rest of the shake. Garrus got ready for bed, then waited while she did. He held the covers up for her to lay down, then tucked her in. Then he got in from the other side and pulled her close. Callista curled up in the curve of her belly. Warmed from either side, Cassidy fell asleep, comforted.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

The door chimed at 0600. Garrus let Dr Chakwas in. Cassidy was still asleep. Dr Chakwas scanned her, took a blood sample and checked the dermal regen sites. Callista came and sniffed the doctor. Dr Chakwas petted Callista for a bit, then got up and motioned Garrus to join her up by the desk.

"The dermal regen is nearly done. I've done a quick blood sugar check and she's lower than I would like. I'm going to have Samesh send up breakfast for you both a bit early. Then have her eat more with Liara. Don't let her sleep through breakfast. I'm also boosting her calorie intake for the day. I'll see her again around noon."

Garrus said, "Thank you, doctor."

About a half hour later, Parveen arrived with their trays.

Garrus went over to Cassidy's side and shook her shoulder, "Hey, breakfast is here." "Its not time for Liara yet, just let me sleep some more." "No, Dr Chakwas specifically said you get to have breakfast with me now and with Liara later." "Oh, ok, hand me my sweats please." Cassidy dragged herself to a sitting position then pulled on her sweats. Garrus pulled her to a stand, held her close for a moment, then kissed the top of her head. Then he walked her over to the couch.

She had oatmeal with brown sugar and banana slices. Bacon, yogurt with granola and orange sections. "I want you to lead the ground missions today." she said. "I can do that." When they finished, he gathered up the trays and took them up to the desk. "I'll get ready and get the first retrieval rolling."

Garrus was ready to go when Liara and Parveen arrived. Garrus said, "Liara, we'll be meeting at the shuttle in an hour." "I'll be ready, Garrus." Cassidy's tray this time had fried eggs over-easy, multi-grain toast, hashed browns, patty sausage, with butter, peach marmalade, and maple syrup, and a fruit smoothie. While they ate and talked about the latest news from Liara's information network, Callista got into the kitty cup between them and curled up, purring.

After Liara left, Cassidy took a shower and got dressed. She queued up an easy listening playlist and turned the volume down low. She grabbed her book, found her place and immersed herself back in the Foundation.

She was focused on the book still when Garrus returned. He placed a bag on the table in front of her and went to clean up. She marked her place and looked in the bag. There was a tall insulated mug and a box of chocolate dipped strawberries. The mug had sweet iced tea. "Any trouble down there?" "Just the usual, took out the usual assortment of Reaper troops, gave the local defense a breather." She nodded, took a bite of strawberry. "We're on our way to the relay system. We'll tackle that after lunch."

She got up and went to her locker, pulled out a pack of cards and a cribbage board. "Do you know how to play cribbage?" "No, but I'm sure you can teach me." She coached him through a couple of sample hands and they played one game. Samesh came on the com, "Commander, are you coming down to lunch as usual or do you want trays sent up?" "We'll come down, Samesh."

They joined Tali, James and Ashley at the table. Tali said, "You are looking more energetic now, I'm glad to see it, Cassidy." "Heard your tank was running on fumes, Lola." said James. Ashley said, "Are you feeling better now, Shepard?" "Samesh is successfully tempting me to eat more than I'm used to and that's helping, so yes, I'm getting there."

Parveen brought their trays. Cassidy's was a spinach leaf garden salad, beef enchiladas in medium red sauce, spanish rice, refried beans, a small glass of dark cerveza, and a sopapilla with honey. James' tray was the same. Ashley had soft corn tortilla tacos. They joked about the Blasto series of movies.

Cassidy finished and excused herself to go see Dr Chakwas. "Your looking better, Shepard. Let me scan your regen sites. Good, that process is complete. Now the blood draw . . . good, your blood sugar is coming up. We'll need to keep it higher than usual for several days for your stores to build back up." "So, medical leave the rest of today, then what?" "Well, light duty tomorrow and then we'll see."

Cassidy said, "OK. Um, I wonder if you could do some research for me?" "What's on your mind?" "Garrus and I have done some small tasting of each other's food and neither of us tasted anything of what was supposed to be spicy. So, does that mean that my gut ignores the dextro stuff or does it get taken up into my blood stream but then ignored there and passed out through the kidneys?" "I'll look to see if there's anything published in the Alliance military files, but we may need to do individual trials on you, if you're that interested." "Yes, I'm interested, please." "OK, I'll get back to you."

Garrus came into the med bay as she was getting off the bed, "We are getting ready to head out for the second retrieval." "OK, I'm going back to my reading. See you when you get back."

Cassidy went out and Samesh said, "Commander, I have something for you." She went over to the galley and he handed her a bag, "Trail mix, for munching. Some dried fruit, some M&Ms, some nuts. And here is your strawberry shake." She took the bag and the insulated mug. "Thank you, Samesh."

Callista walked by and into Liara's room. Cassidy went back up and back to her book.

When she finished the book, she put on a simple yoga video, got a mat out and followed along. Garrus came in while she was in a camel pose. "I thought your limits were walking and talking for today." "This is very easy-going yoga. I'm not even breathing hard. I needed to stretch." She ended the video and put the mat away. "How was the mission?" "Not even much opposition this time." "Another game of cribbage before dinner?" "Sure."

–

The next three weeks were spent scanning, retrieving and delivering.

During that time, one evening in the first week, Dr Chakwas asked Cassidy into the med bay. "I looked into the question you asked and there is some, but not much. What is there seems to indicate, where allergic reaction is absent, some of both, some ignored in the gut and some taken into the blood and ignored there. However, details like which foods go which way are absent. If you want more information than that, we're going to have to do the individual testing I mentioned before." "All right, draw up a plan for the testing and I'll look at it. This is not really a priority, so we'll do it when time permits." "Barring a medical emergency, I should have a plan for you tomorrow."

The next evening, Dr Chakwas said "Here's the plan. I place a micro-camera in your duodenum, then activate it to record when we know dextro material will be there. The video will be able to show which molecules get taken up by the villi to be deposited into the blood. When we're done, I'll tell the camera to release and pass with the next meal. Here is the order of the foods I suggest you try." "How long will the camera placement take?" "We can do it now in about 10 minutes." "OK, let's do it." "Here, swallow this, here's some water, . . . now I follow it down . . . and there. Yes, I'm getting an image from it. Now, what I have here is a turian vegetable, practically straight starchy carbohydrate."

The evening visit to Dr Chakwas became part of the daily schedule. Garrus noticed, but didn't ask, figuring she would tell him if he needed to know.


	30. Chapter 30

_Author's Note: I changed up the canon story a bit because the Thessia mission always seriously bugs me._

Chapter 30

Admiral Hackett sent a message, asking them to go help liberate a fuel production facility on Cyone.

Cyone done. Check. Cassidy was feeling a bit monotonous. She decided the crew needed shore leave. She gave them 24 hours on the Citadel. She booked a consultation appointment with a turian family doctor, to happen in the middle of errand running.

Dr Larban greeted Cassidy in her office, "Hello Commander Shepard. Welcome. What can I do for you? Is it about your mate, Garrus Vakarian?" "No, not really, but sort of. I'm sorry, I'm trying to decide how to start. What I'm after at this point is primarily information. What I want to know about is the turian fetal development process, in particular the microbiological interaction between fetus and mother. If you could give me a basic rundown of the process, then send me links to the associated medical information files, I'd appreciate it." "Well, Commander, I take it you're preparing a database to inform your conversation with your mate about your future family options?" "Yes, I think you've hit the nail on the head." "It goes like this . . ."

Cassidy returned to her errands. She met Garrus and a few more of the crew for lunch at a bar & grill on Zakera Ward. When lunch was done, everybody but her and Garrus had left for some shopping. "Why don't we take one of those gondola rides on the Presidium?" suggested Garrus. Cassidy smiled, "Sounds romantic. Let's go."

Once they were out on the water, Garrus took hold of her hands, "Cassidy, you do remember that I was a detective?" "Yes, so?" "Well, I got this message from one of my C-Sec friends just before lunch. He saw you go into a turian medical clinic. Now I put that info with the fact of your evening visits with Dr Chakwas. Then I add in our conversation about wanting a family some day. So, please tell me what conclusion should I draw?"

"Its research, Garrus. To 'inform our conversation about future family options'. The visits with Dr Chakwas are to determine which dextro molecules get passed into my blood. So far, it looks like all the nutrients get absorbed then filtered out but the non-dietary stuff just passes. The turian doctor talked to me about turian fetal development. I have more reading to do, but my tentative guess that I might, with medical assistance, be able to have a turian embryo implanted and then carry him or her to term." "Wow . . . but I heard 'tentative' and 'might', so I shouldn't get too emotionally invested in this idea yet, is that about right?" "Yes, that's about right." "OK, but keep me in the loop now, please?" and he kissed her.

Cassidy and Garrus went to the Blasto 6 movie before dinner, which they took at the little sushi place Cassidy liked. They returned to the ship and made slow heartfelt love before sleep.

The next morning she got up early to do some last minute errands. When she was about to step into the Spectre office, Tevos messaged her, requesting a meeting in her office in the Asari Embassy, ASAP. Cassidy replied that she would be there shortly. She turned away from the Spectre office and headed to meet Tevos.

Thessia: "Commander, the asari have had their throats cut." said Ashley. "Be on guard, we know that Cerberus phantoms use swords, so . . . oh there's a beacon here." said Cassidy. She went to the statue of the Athame and stepped up, opening her mind like she had done with Shiala. She took another step forward and the beacon froze her. She saw a vision of how to access a nearby hidden Prothean database control. The beacon released her and she stepped over to a side panel and accessed a hidden catch that opened to a handle. She sent the code the vision had provided and the handle clicked. She took the handle and turned it. "I am Vendetta, the represantation of Pashak Vran. What is your request?" said a synthesized voice behind her. "What is the Catalyst, the final piece to the Crucible?" she asked. "Reaper forces detected on this planet. It is too late for this cycle, shutting down." "No, there's time. The Crucible is being built now. We just need to know what the Catalyst is." "I will download the necessary data for me to help with the construction. You will transport the data to the construction site. Indoctrinated presence detected, can you hold them off while I download?" "Yes, you will download to EDI's platform. Liara, give them a biotic shield. The rest of you spread out."

When Kai Leng appeared in the entry of the temple, they opened fire. "We just want your attention!" shouted Leng. Cassidy stripped the majority of his shields, "You are in my sights, that's all the attention I'm giving you!"

Garrus overloaded the remainder of his shields, James hit him with a Carnage, Ashley peppered him with her assault rifle. Javik hit him with his beam weapon. Tali sent a drone to chase him out of the temple. A Cerberus gunship appeared behind him, "Target the supports!" Kai Leng screamed into his omni-tool just before he ducked out of sight.

"Target the gunship!" yelled Cassidy as she stripped some of the gunship's shields. She got her Black Widow ready, as the others wore down the rest of its shields. The gunship blasted through a major support and the floor next to Cassidy broke and fell away, revealing Prothean data towers going a long way down. Cassidy sent a warp and then another warp at the ship then sighted its tail structure with her Widow and fired. The gunship's tail disappeared but before it spun away, it managed to blast away more floor and Cassidy fell into the chasm underneath. Cassidy grabbed onto the jagged edge of a dangling piece of floor. Garrus yelled, "Cassidy!" "I'm down here, okay for the moment. Did Javik get the data?" "Yes, Commander, I've got it." She heard gunfire above her, Garrus called "We've got a few Cerberus troops to deal with." The dangling floor gave way and Cassidy rode it down. When she spotted a floor down there, she did the biotic float trick that Liara had taught her. She watched the piece of floor from above crash land as she floated down and stood up.

"Cassidy, talk to me!" came Garrus voice on her omni-tool. "Are the Cerberus troops dealt with?" she asked. "Yes, but where are you?" "I'm in some kind of work room down here. See if you can lower yourselves down and we'll get out down here." About 20 minutes went by and a knotted rope was lowered. EDI came first, then Tali, Ashley, Garrus, Javik and James. Liara floated down in a biotic field holding the top end of the rope.

They went out a door in the back of the work room and found stairs up. They eventually found their way up to the lobby of some government building. There were Reaper troops outside with asari troops keeping them out of the building. Cassidy and company helped clear out the attacking forces there. She led her group out to the street and over to a parking garage. She signalled Cortez to meet them on the roof of the garage.

Back on the ship, Cassidy asked EDI to copy Vendetta's data to a cube. She went directly to the com room and contacted Admiral Hackett and explained the situation. "Go to these coordinates. I'll get a ship there to bring the data cube in." "Joker, . . " "We're on the way, Commander. ETA: 1 hour, 10 minutes."

Cassidy went up to their cabin to change. Garrus was already there with dinner trays on the table. "I think Liara needs some company this evening, Cassidy. What do you think?" "Yes, I agree. I'll head down there right after dinner. I'm starving."

When the Normandy arrived, the Orizaba was waiting. Cassidy gave permission for Rear Admiral Hannah Shepard to come aboard. Cassidy took her up to their cabin. Hannah hugged Cassidy and Garrus and bent down to scratch Callista behind her ears and under her chin. She admired the fish tanks and the model ships. "I'm sorry I can't extend this visit. I'll take the data cube." Cassidy handed the cube to her in a small satchel and said, "I understand. Things will hopefully be done soon. How far along is the Crucible now?" "I'd say we've got about 60% of it done, but the end point changes as the scientists have epiphanies and plans get adjusted. Admiral Xen and that scientist from Cerberus' Project Overlord have been spurring each other on. Its amazing stuff."

After Hannah returned to the Orizaba, Cassidy challenged Garrus to ping pong and beat him 2 out 3 brutal games.

–

About 0400 Cassidy's com started flashing and buzzing. She reached up and hit the button, "Audio only" Hackett's voice came on, "Shepard, I've gotten reports from ships that have tried to reach the Citadel. There are several Harbinger-class Reapers there. Evacuations are underway, while the fleet is trying to keep the Reapers busy. That's the latest I've heard. Get over there and see if you can help with evacuations." "Joker, get up and get us to the Citadel. Go in black." "Getting up, Commander."

When they got there, there were plenty of ships around but the Citadel was gone. Cassidy saw the Destiny Ascension. "Joker, drop the stealth. Get me a com to the Destiny Ascension." "Commander, we have the turian councilor coming," Sparatus' voice, "Commander, the Reapers have taken the Citadel. Once the arms closed defensively, they brought in more Reaper ships, 21 my VI says, then surrounded it and took it into FTL about 10 minutes ago." "Thank you, Councilor. I need to report this, immediately, to Hackett. Normandy out." Cassidy ran to the war room and to the QEC.

Hackett's image came on "Commander, what's the situation?" "The Reapers took the Citadel into FTL as reported to me by Councilor Sparatus on the Destiny Ascension. It looks like the first 3 Reapers waited for the Citadel Arms to close in defense, then they called in a lot more to get it into FTL." "This is not good, Shepard, and by what we now know from Vendetta, its even worse. The Catalyst is the Citadel." "What? Do we have any way to determine their location or direction?" "No, but here, let me patch Anderson in . . . Anderson, Shepard says the Reapers took the Citadel into FTL." "That is not good. I wonder if that explains the massive build up of Reapers over London. They are prepping for something big and I wonder if the Citadel is headed here for that."

Hackett said, "We don't have the technology to cross from intergalactic distances without the mass relays, so we have no gauge on how long it will take them to get here." "Well, it was 6 months for them to get from the Alpha Relay to the next one. Well, maybe less than that because they had the mutated batarians with them when they asssaulted Earth, so I supposed it depends how long they took to collect and convert troops." said Cassidy. "What about the Conduit?" asked Anderson. "The Reapers have blasted the ruins leading to the conduit. There's no way into there, now." said Hackett. "Well, its reasonable to peg their destination as Earth. Which probably means we have at least a couple months' time to finish the Crucible. When we're ready, we'll get it to the Citadel." said Cassidy.

Hackett said, "Commander, continue combing the Reaper controlled systems for resources. I guess you'll have to use Omega for resupply now." "Understood, sir." "Anderson, out" "Hackett, out."


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

About three weeks later Cassidy awoke to the sight of paper mache containers with paper flowers hanging from the cabin ceiling. Garrus was watching her as she took in the sight. "Happy Birthday, Cassidy." he said. "I slept through you putting all this up last night?" she asked. "Yes, you were out like a light. Samantha made the containers and Liara, Dr Chakwas, Tali and a couple more of the crew did the flowers. I just hung them up." Cassidy smiled as Callista was batting one just in reach from the top of her tower. "Mmm, let me thank you in person," and she kissed him and threw one leg over his hip. "I'm so glad you like it." he said as ran a hand under her night shirt and cupped her breast. Things proceeded from there.

There was a birthday message from her mom waiting for her. Cassidy smiled as Hannah's staff sang "Feliz Cumpleanos" to her.

Cassidy thanked Liara when she came for their breakfast meeting. Liara said "I hate to spoil your birthday, but Cerberus has taken out one of our comm stations on Ontarom. The Alliance and I really need to have those relays back up and running." "No problem, Liara. Joker, take us to Ontarom." "Will do, Commander" Cassidy said, "Don't worry, I like to make up the birthday hours spent in combat on other days doing something decadent. Its a way of extending my birthday celebrations."

When they came back, Cassidy escorted Grace Sato up to the mess hall and introduced her to Samesh. Cassidy went to change out of her armor. Back down in the mess, Cassidy noticed that Callista was in Grace's lap, being petted and purring. They had hot dogs, macaroni & cheese, cold potato salad and cucumber slices.

Samesh had a few different birthday cakes out and Cassidy blew out candles on all three when the crew finished singing.

That afternoon they dropped Grace at an Alliance station. They went to the Hourglass Nebula to begin scanning there.

For dinner with Garrus, she had barbecued ribs, sweet potato fries, collard greens, corn bread, fruit salad and banana pudding.

They played some cribbage that evening and watched "Hunt for the Red October."

Cassidy gave them 24 hours shore leave at Omega. She made sure that everyone understood the safety rules, and assigned armed escorts for the non-combatants on the ship. She escorted Samesh around on his grocery shopping. He decided to stay on the ship after they got the grocery crates delivered. Cassidy saw quite a few Talons standing guard everywhere, which was good.

She joined a fair number of her crew at an Italian place for dinner. She had minestrone, seafood portofino, white wine and gelato.

Most of the crew stayed on the ship overnight. James stayed out with a couple of the other marines.

–

Another few weeks went by in the scanning, retrieval and delivery routine.

Then, one evening, she got a com request from Miranda.

"Hey Miranda. What's up?" "Shepard, I think I've found where my father has taken my sister – Sanctuary. I think that they are using the refugees for biological tests of some sort. I suspect its not 'informed consent' either. I'm going to head there in the morning. I'd appreciate some back up." "Sure, no problem" "Thank you, Shepard. I'll probably head on in when I get there, so you might need to catch up." "Alright, will do, Miranda."

–

Horizon: "There are quite a few ship flight records here, including outbound Cerberus. Its a start." said Garrus. "I can do better than that. When we were fighting, I managed to plant a tracker on Kai Leng. He might give away the Illusive Man's location." said Miranda, handing a receiver to Cassidy.

"What's up for you two?" asked Cassidy. "First, I'm going to make sure that Mr Henry Lawson is dead. Then, I'll take Ori somewhere safe, get cleaned up and then I'll lend my talents to the cause."

–

Back on the ship, Cassidy took the receiver to EDI's core systems room. "You can grab the info off this and make the Normandy into a big receiver for his tracking signal, right?" "Yes, Shepard, that is the idea. If we are within a 3 light hour radius of him, even through a mass relay, we can track his movements. At the moment, he is, predictably, headed for the local mass relay."

"Joker, head for the mass relay, but do not jump until we know which relay Leng jumps to." "Heading for the mass relay, Commander."

"Now, EDI. I want to get your input about a thought I've had about how to target the Reapers with the Crucible. Now, are you able to power down the Reaper IFF of ours should you want to?" "Yes, when we integrated it into my systems, interrupts were placed so that power could be rerouted around it, effective depowering it." "Does it have an internal power source?" "Determining . . . yes, there is a surprisingly small yet potent power source within it." "So, in other words, rerouting the power would not actually depower it." "Correct. I am looking to see if its internal power source could be removed . . . I will consult with Adams about this and report to you later, Commander." "I'll be waiting to hear about it, EDI."

Cassidy went up to change out of her armor. Garrus said, "You look like you're worried about something." "Assuming that we ever get the Crucible and the Catalyst / Citadel together, I want some way to destroy the Reapers without affecting the other synthetics, like EDI and the geth. Right now, I'm having EDI and Adams working on making our Reaper IFF able to be depowered completely. Then I'll need to consult with one of the geth primes." "Well, let it rest while we get lunch, eh? Let EDI and Adams do their thing for the moment." "Yea, OK, not much more I can do about right now anyway."

They were at lunch in the mess hall when Adams came up and sat across from Cassidy. "Commander, I think the solution to your problem is fairly simple. I'm going to put in a manual switch which will basically physically displace the connections between the internal power source of the IFF and the rest of it. Kind of like the original circuit switch from the very early days of electricity. I'll let you know when we can test it."

The tracking signal went into the Horse Head Nebula. So Cassidy directed Joker to go to the refueling station there. Once they were refueled, EDI said "The signal is heading to another system, Commander." Cassidy went to the Galaxy Map. "Show me the known systems in this cluster, EDI. Now show me his track and extrapolate his current direction." "There are no explored systems on the extrapolated path, Commander." "Identify G-class stars on the path. Joker, plot a flight path to the Fortuna system and begin. EDI let me know if the signal changes velocity."

Cassidy went back to EDI's core room. "If our Reaper IFF gets completely depowered, what if we use the Citadel's controls of the mass relays to broadcast a signal that looks like a Reaper signal going only to Reaper IFFs. Can you make such a signal, EDI?" "Yes." "Like the virus Legion used to rewrite the heretics, can you put an instruction in the signal that would kill them, like, uh, turn their beams inward to fry their brains, or overload their power systems to fry their brains or something like that?" "I will run simulations and get back to you, Commander."

Cassidy went to her cabin and started her martial arts forms. She was up to the brown belt form when Joker came on "The signal stopped at the star, Anadius, Commander." "Go black, circle round to the other side of Anadius and approach the signal source. Keep out of visual range. No scanning." She went back to her forms.

They found it. A big station with Cerberus ship signals all over and a massive power signature at the center.

"Get us out of here, back toward the relay but not entering the Pax system. Reduce non-critical systems power use. Stay black as long as we can, park us between systems to cool down." Her room lights dimmed. EDI announced, "Notice to all crew, non-critical power use is now assigned to needs only until further notice."

–

She waited for Hackett to get to his end of their QEC connection. "We found the Cerberus HQ, sir. Space station hidden orbiting the star Anadius in the Horse Head Nebula. No planets, a sizeable asteroid field." "OK then, let me put together an armada to keep their ships busy while you go in to bring down the defenses of the station. Then we can take over the station and mine it for intel and assets for the Crucible. I'll be in touch. Hackett out."

–

That evening, EDI called Cassidy to her core room. "I have identified a method that would, put simply, put a short between their power core and their higher processes servers, resulting in a critical overload, an unrecoverable one if this short is placed just prior to the full power blast of the Crucible. My method would allow the 'virus' to ride the leading edge of the energy wave, place the short with enough time for the greater part of the energy wave to travel in through the short and produce death. I need to refine the code." "Very good, EDI. Not a word of this to anyone but me." "Understood, Commander." Cassidy walked out of the room.

–

They joined the armada heading to the Cerberus space station.

–

Cassidy saw Leng's reflection as he approached her from behind. She got up and spun around, stripping his regenerating shields yet again, signaled Garrus to overload him, and EDI to pepper him while she lined up the Black Widow. "You won't threaten me or mine without a head, you son of a bitch." as she blew his away.

She turned back to the control panel. "Admiral, we have control of the station, shields are down, opening all hangar doors." She paused for a moment. "EDI, I'm guessing you have anticipated this, but we're going to need to account for that Reaper heart down there. Hackett will want to add it to the Crucible. It will add a significant amount of energy to the pulse." "You are correct, Commander. I am tapping into the readings coming from the power source now, collecting a power profile for it."

They spent about a week based around the station while it was gutted for usable materials. Hackett kept the Normandy scouting to give them an alert if the Reapers were coming out this way. Finally he cut them loose. Cassidy took them to Omega for a 24 hour shore leave.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

They were back to the scanning, retrieving and delivering routine for about a week. Then she got a QEC request from Anderson. Hackett was patched in. Anderson said, "The Citadel's here! They've parked it right above London. They've just established some sort of beam between the ground and somewhere up there, don't know what its for yet." Hackett said, "That's what we've been waiting for. I'm mobilizing the fleets. We'll get the Crucible to the Citadel and finish this." "Let's do this." said Cassidy. "EDI, find us a geth vessel."

They arrived at the Perseus Veil. A large geth vessel was waiting there. One of the geth troopers, calling itself "Clowder", asked permission to come aboard. "Permission granted," said Cassidy. "Thank you for joining us, Clowder." "I am pleased to assist the Normandy, Commander. I have been made to the specs of Legion, in order to assist most effectively." The docking tube retreated and the geth vessel pulled away toward the mass relay. "If you will follow me, please." Cassidy led Clowder to EDI's core room. "I know that you, Clowder, and EDI can converse at a much faster rate than either of you can with me, so EDI will do the consulting with you." Cassidy pulled up her omni-tool to read her messages while EDI and Clowder consulted.

"Commander, Clowder has enabled me to improve my design. I believe our plan's chance of success has increased by 12.41%." "Thank you, Clowder" said Cassidy. "You are most welcome, Commander. If you have no objection, I would like to go to the bridge, to observe from there." "I have no objection, Clowder."

Cassidy knew that the assault on the Citadel would be long and very energy consuming. She went down to lunch. Garrus was already there in his usual spot, Cassidy sat in hers. Parveen brought her tray. There was lasagna, garlic bread, garden salad with viniagrette, gazpacho, and cannoli.

Garrus took her hand when they finished, "Cassidy, may I speak with you upstairs?" "Sure, we have a couple hours before the final operation is set to begin." They went upstairs.

"What's on your mind, Garrus?" she asked when the door had closed behind them. "I spoke with Dr Chakwas and she is willing to freeze my genetic material, in case I don't make it. That would enable you to continue with our family plans, if you want to. So, she said if I use a condom with you, then she could use that to obtain the material for freezing. So, want to help me with my project?" Cassidy took his hands, and looked up at him, "I'll do my best to live through this and so will you. But, I appreciate your consideration, so yes, I will help you."

Cassidy slowly stepped backward and loosened the neck of her tunic, baring his scar. She undid one catch and then the next and the next, until the tunic was completely open. She let it slide down her arms and fall to the floor. She brought her hands to her hips and traced her left index finger up the curve of her waist and back and then the right. His breathing hitched. She smiled a little and reached back to release her bra, and dropped that on the floor. She raised her hands to her hair and sat on the bed. She lifted one boot and got it off then the other, all the while watching him. She took her socks off, then stood up and turned her back to him. She undid her pants and undies and slowly pushed them down her hips, letting her arms stay wide to highlight her waist. She heard him undressing, his breathing faster than before. She went to his bedside stand and got a condom out. She turned to him, saw that he was ready for it.

She went to him and put the condom at the tip of his cock. She reached up one hand to guide his head down for a kiss while she pushed the condom down with the other. She whispered, "Your turn." He put his hands at her waist and turned her around. One hand came up and covered her breast while the other went down to her clit. She moaned. He reached under and found she was wet. He pushed a finger inside her, rubbing up and down.

He walked her to the bed and encouraged her to lean over. He stepped back and put the lubricant on the condom. Then he put it up to her and grabbed her hips and pushed himself in, each stroke rocking her forward. After a bit, he guided them down so she was belly down on the bed and he was on his knees. He continued pushing again and again. Then he pulled out, turned and laid on the bed on his back. She pushed up, and scrambled over astride him, allowing him back in, sinking down onto him. She rocked up and down, back and forth. He cried out and came and she was right behind him. She leaned down and kissed him. "Is it right that the freezing needs to happen sooner rather than later?" she rasped. He said "um, yea".

Cassidy crawled off of him and laid down while he got up to go deal with the condom. He was dressing when he activated the com, "Dr Chakwas, my collection is ready." "OK, Garrus. Shepard are you there?" "Yes, doctor?" "I can perform the same service for you, if you like. I can bring my equipment up to your cabin shortly." "Um, OK, doc. I'll wait here." "Good. Garrus, you wait there as well."

A couple minutes later, Dr Chakwas chimed and was let in. She took Garrus' sample and transferred the contents to a container and placed the container in a frosted reservior. She pulled a tool out and came to the bed. "I need you to place your butt right here near me. Garrus, come behind me and hold her feet up." The doctor placed a monitor on her belly and pushed some tubing up Cassidy's vagina and into her uterus. The doc watched the monitor as the business end got up into her fallopian tube and out to her ovary. The doc released some fluid onto the ovary and waited, "I'm sorry if this is uncomfortable. It will be just a couple more minutes." After waiting, the monitor showed small explosions on the surface of the ovary. The doctor applied suction to the tube to collect the eggs. "I think we got 6, no 7." She gently reversed the tubing and got it out and collected her monitor. Cassidy sat up.

Dr Chakwas placed Cassidy's eggs in a different sort of container, then dropped that into the frosted reservoir. "I certainly hope we will be using these to implant you, Cassidy, for you both to raise your children together." She left. Garrus pulled Cassidy up and held her close. Then he allowed her to get dressed. They had a final battle to win, after all.

–

The team was running for the beam. Ashley and Garrus were hit by a mako that Harbinger's weapon had turned into flying debris. Cassidy called down the Normandy to evacuate them. "You've got to be kidding! We're in this to the end." complained Garrus. "Somebody has to keep Callista safe. Besides, you know I'll do my darndest to come back to you. I intend to scandalize some of your stuffy relatives at the family ceremony!" "You had best come back to explain the birds and the bees to our daughters!" he replied. She turned away and ran for the beam.

Harbinger said something, then grazed her with his weapon, she felt some burns and rolled away, but couldn't get up, falling unconscious to the ground.

–

She got up, grabbed a pistol. Funny, it was one of the old ones, before thermal clips. She limped forward taking down three husks. She couldn't seem to activate her biotics. Why was Harbinger flying away? A marauder appeared and shot her before she could take him down with a few shots. That seemed too easy. She went up the beam and lost consciousness again.

She came to up in some hallway filled with dead bodies. A keeper was taking a helmet off a soldier. Anderson voice sounded. "Shepard?" Why wasn't her omni-tool fried? That arm looked burnt and the armor was ripped away. "I feel like death, but I'm moving." she said. She made her way to the central point and Anderson appeared there, when she hadn't seen him up there earlier. Curious. The Illusive Man appeared, preached, made her shoot Anderson. She suggested he try to control the Reapers and make them stop, but he couldn't, but he wouldn't admit that the Reapers were controlling him and not letting him stop them. She shot him.

She hit the control to open the station arms but didn't see any control for the Crucible. Weren't the station arms opened from the tower control station anyway? "EDI? EDI?" Nothing.

Maybe that was all she needed to do so she sat by Anderson and talked with him for his final moments. Hackett's voice sounded, "Commander, its not working. It must be something on your end." Then, instead of her internal cybernetics stabilizing her, she lost consciousness again as she tried to get to the controls.

She woke up to a shimmery translucent version of the kid in her dreams. Now she was strongly reminded of Leviathan's talking to her in her head way down underwater. The kid said it was the Catalyst and controlled the Reapers. The kid said that all synthetics would destroy organics. "Not true!" she shouted in her mind. The kid explained that she could destroy them but all synthetics would go. "Sez, you." she thought to herself. The kid explained that she could control them but lose her organic self. "That's what you want me to think." she though, again, to herself. The kid explained the synthesis option, "That's pure malarkey." she thought. "I don't know." she said to the kid.

She said "I'm going to destroy you, but NOT YOUR WAY. GET OUT OF . . ."

Cassidy came to, looking up at Harbinger being bowled over onto its back by a crashing geth dreadnought. Liara ran up to her, helping her sit up. She could feel her skin weave's micro medi-gel system kick in. She looked down at her armor, which was pretty much intact. She did feel burns through some of the joints. Her omni-tool was functional. She got up, "We have to get to that beam before Harbinger gets back up." Some ships and some ground units had noticed Harbinger's exposed position and were directing fire at its weakest points. She looked around, saw James and Grunt coming out from behind a crashed gunship, Javik crawled out from behind a mako, Jack and her students ran down from a side building. The Normandy came down and EDI's mobile platform dropped down, along with Clowder. She assigned James, Grunt, Jack and her students to keep the area clear of Reaper troops should they arrive. She told them to keep themselves out of Reaper weapon beams, especially if Harbinger got back up.

Cassidy, EDI, Liara, Javik and Clowder went into the beam.

They came up at the Conduit. The Presidium was dark, there were bodies everywhere and as Cassidy picked herself up, she saw tubes leading to a half-formed Reaper power core along with a dozen vertebrae. Then she looked around and sure enough saw the same sort of pods that had been on the Collector ship and base. EDI said, "There are keeper tunnels to the Citadel tower, this way."

They ran through the keeper tunnels, unopposed at first. Then Reaper troops started appearing. Then Cerberus troops. They fought their way to the Citadel Council's audience area. The Illusive Man was there. H e raised his hand and she and Liara and Javik stopped in their tracks. EDI and Clowder took down his shields then opened fire. The Illusive Man tried to get Cassidy point her weapon at EDI. Cassidy pushed her will against his and shouted, "If I can resist Harbinger, there's NO FUCKING WAY YOU ARE GETTING IN!" and she pointed her gun at the Illusive Man and hit him with a warp. Liara and Javik regained their senses and joined the fight. Cassidy had to warp him several more times, but finally he went down. Cassidy went and picked up one of the phantoms' swords and gave it to Clowder and asked it to separate the Illusive Man's head from his body. Liara said, "Shepard, isn't that a bit extreme?" "Its in case Harbinger implanted him with enough cybernetics to keep going after organic death, like Saren was."

The went up to the Citadel controls and Cassidy opened the Citadel arms. EDI said, "I have established the link to the Crucible and uploaded our project, Commander. You may fire at as soon as the Crucible has docked."

She heard Hackett's voice "They did it! The Citadel arms are opening. All ships, defend the Crucible at all costs."

Clowder activated a monitor and they watched the Crucible come in and dock. A big red button appeared on the display. "Making it easy on me, EDI?" said Cassidy. "I thought it would be culturally significant to you."

She heard Hackett say "Shepard, is that you at Citadel control?" "Yes, Admiral, me, Liara, EDI and a geth, Clowder."

The big red button slowly turned green from bottom to top. When it was fully green, she hit the button, "Firing."

Clowder said, "We have 120 seconds. It would be prudent for us to leave this tower as the energy will be directed through and along it."

Cassidy yelled, "This way!" and led them running down the stairs, around the trees, down more stairs and to the emergency stairways alongside the elevators. The got in the stairs and Cassidy jumped down flight after flight, the others right behind her, flinging themselves through a door at the bottom. She heard her omni-tool start counting down from 20. A heavy mech dropped in. Cassidy and Liara sent warps at it and ran. EDI overloaded it, but Clowder took over the controls and popped the lid. Javik shot the driver in the head. They ran for what used to be the Consort's quarters. Once inside, Liara and Cassidy let Javik, EDI and Clowder in. The three biotics together powered a biotic shield over all of them. The countdown got to 1, 0.

The Crucible fired. The whole area exploded. Their shield went down under the pressure of falling rubble. Cassidy was knocked unconscious.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

Hackett saw on his monitor that the Crucible was docking smoothly. Then his ship VI announced "Crucible control has been transferred to Citadel control." He got on the com "Shepard is that you at Citadel control?" "Yes, Admiral, me, Liara, EDI and a geth, Clowder."

Hackett set the com to all the fleet: "All ships, rendezvous at your assigned staging area, now!" He watched ships all around wink out, FTL-ing to the mass relay. He heard Cassidy say, "Firing" "Start your jump to the mass relay now, Flight Lieutenant!" and they winked out then jumped.

Joker heard both Cassidy and Hackett. "I can go get them!" he said. Garrus said, "No, they will be racing to get out of the tower. Joker, we've got to get out of here, ahead of that shock wave." They heard Cassidy yell "Firing!" then Clowder say "We have 120 seconds. . . " Joker activated their jump to the mass relay and out. The shock wave caught up to them in the Exodus Cluster and the Normandy crash landed on Eden Prime, in a tropical mountainous area.

Jack, her students, James and Grunt were keeping Reaper troops out of the area, but the troops were getting closer and closer. Then a shock wave of energy came down from above, knocking them all unconscious.

–

Clowder was buried under rubble. It was able to get one arm free and tentatively tested the structure of the rubble above it. It determined that the odds were high that some of the rubble was structurally supportive of larger rubble above it. It decided to remain in place. It didn't hear any com traffic at all, not geth, Reaper, Cerberus, Alliance or civilian. It felt organic body warmth below it. "Commander Shepard, Liara, Javik? Can you hear me?" Nothing yet. It started a distress beacon signal.

–

A shuttle came in, Cortez driving. Jacob, Miranda and Zaeed were on it along with a couple asari commandos, Major Kirrahe and Wrex. The shuttle set down next to where the beam had been. The found Jack, her students, Grunt, and James. Grunt was already picking himself up. They got all the others stabilized and called in another shuttle to evacuate them.

Once the other shuttle arrived, Cortez said, "Next stop, the Citadel. Who's coming?" They all agreed to come, including Grunt. "I would like to come as well." said Samara, stepping out of the other shuttle. The asari commandos decided to stay with the wounded. It was tight quarters in the shuttle, but they managed.

Cortez flew the shuttle up to the Presidium ring. Much of the wards were blasted away, but the ring was relatively intact, if somewhat crumpled looking. Cortez found an open and intact enough docking berth. He parked on the platform and everybody got out.

Miranda went to the door into the docking tube and opened it. She found a door but the power was out. She started to go for the manual releases but she saw through the door that a keeper was coming toward her from inside. The keeper stopped and opened a panel and did something. The door activator appeared, green. She activated it and they all went in to Bay D-24. There was nobody in the bay but themselves and the keeper.

The keeper walked over to another door that was standing open. It stopped and looked back at them. Miranda said "I think it wants us to follow it." and she set off toward it. It went through the door and walked past another open door then turned around, block the way. It looked at Miranda then into the doorway. Miranda looked and saw a stairwell, going up or down. She looked back at the keeper and it pointed down. "Well I guess we're going down." They all started going down flight after flight. At the bottom the door was labeled "Presidium Commons". Major Kirrahe held up his omni-tool. "I'm getting a distress beacon, just a moment. Text only, geth Clowder with Commander Shepard, Liara, Javik and EDI. Buried under rubble. Clowder pinned under rubble. One organic under Clowder. No response from any." That way and he pointed down the waterway.

"We need a couple cabs." said Miranda. Jacob said "Let's walk in that direction and we should find a cab stand before too long. They walked along, sometimes over fallen rubble. They found a Cerberus soldier, alive, but he was not home. He just looked at them and looked like he wanted to say something, then went back to staring.

They left him there and went on. After a half hour, they found a cab stand with two cabs. They got in Miranda taking the controls of one and Wrex taking the other. Major Kirrahe sat next to Miranda and held up his omni-tool, which was tuned to the distress beacon. "Turn here, into the passage toward the Citadel Tower" Just a couple minutes of slow driving and they were on top of the beacon. They landed.

Wrex said, "The Consort used to have her quarters in here somewhere, but I don't even see the doorway." Major Kirrahe said "The distress beacon is just 10 meters in there" and he pointed to a pile of rubble.

Samara said to Miranda and Jacob, "Perhaps we should carefully remove the rubble from the top down with biotics." Wrex said, "I can give a hand with that as well." So they split up in pairs: Samara and Wrex, Miranda and Jacob. The pairs would each take a large piece of rubble off the top and carefully lower to an empty space nearby.

After 20 minutes, they heard a geth voice say "Who is there? I am Clowder." Samara climbed up and looked into a hole where she saw a light. "I am Samara. Wrex, Miranda and Jacob are with me." "Yes, Legion worked with you, Miranda and Jacob on the Normandy. I am glad to see you Samara. Please take the piece of rubble directly on top of me next as it is unstable now. I am currently supporting it, keeping it from falling on the human below me."

Samara and Wrex cleared the unstable piece. Clowder was then able to sit up and assist them with stabilizing the remaining pieces of rubble as their neighbors were cleared away. Finally, Clowder was able to step down and see that the organic that had been under him was Liara. They finished clearing the rubble from around her and Miranda came down and scanned her. "Broken upper leg, lower arm, 3 ribs on the right side. Comatose state." she read off. She started applying medi-gel to some of the abrasions. Cortez offered to take a cab to find a med station and bring back some stretchers. Zaeed went with him. Grunt followed the path in and offered to help Clowder stabilize the rubble from underneath as the biotics cleared it from the top. Major Kirrahe took the other cab in search of food.

Clowder said "We were together under a biotic shield. The explosion came from above and the inward side. I would expect the others to be in that direction." Clowder pointed to another pile of rubble, next to the cleared area. They all got up and started to clear that area. They found Javik next. He had a broken arm and jaw and also was comatose. The biotics were feeling run down and decided to rest. Major Kirrahe returned with several bags of sandwiches and bottles of water. "Found a self serve kiosk. Refrigeration still active." They took to eating.

Meanwhile Cortez and Zaeed returned with the cab and an ambulance. They parked and came over and got sandwiches also. They reported that the med clinic they had found was empty of people and had no power. After they got done with their sandwiches, Miranda went to the ambulance to see what supplies were in the back. She found limb splints of various sizes. She took ones that looked appropriate for Liara and she went down, taking Jacob with her to help stabilize the limbs while she splinted them. Then they brought a stretcher down and got her carefully onto it and covered her with a blanket. "She needs fluids." said Miranda and she went back to the ambulance. She quickly found the stash of IV bags. She brought one of saline and glucose, labeled Asari. She lifted up a piece of the stretcher meant to hold an IV bag and attached the bag to the support. Then she exposed the needle and found a vein in Liara's inner arm. "That's as much as we can do for her here. Let's get her out to the ambulance."

After that Miranda did for Javik in a similar way, though she did not put an IV in him.

Then they started on the remainder of the pile where they had found Javik. They uncoverd EDI's mobile platform next. It seemed unharmed but was inert. Then they heard a moan from under the rubble right next to them. They worked quickly to uncover the Commander. Miranda determined that Cassidy had burns and some deep bruising, but was otherwise intact. They got Cassidy onto a stretcher and Miranda put a saline and glucose (human) IV drip into her.

They got Cassidy's stretcher into the ambulance (which could take 4 stretchers) with Liara and Javik. Miranda climbed in the back between the stretchers. Cortez drove the ambulance. Jacob took one cab and Wrex the other. They drove back to the stairway and up to the cab stand for the docking bay, where there were no cabs until they got there. They got the stretchers out to the shuttle. Miranda went with the stretchers as did Zaeed in the co-pilot position, Jacob joined Miranda in the back. Clowder, Major Kirrahe, Wrex, Grunt and Samara stayed behind to wait for a return shuttle.

Cortez took his load and got on the com, asking for a med facility with 3 beds. They directed him to Bath, England. He parked and helped carry the stretchers in. He found the doctor in charge and told him that this was Commander Shepard, Dr Miranda Lawson would be caring for her, but not to tell anyone else of her identity and to keep her bed curtained. The doctor said he understood.

Cortez went back to get the remaining group waiting on the Citadel.

Joker got up from his chair, "Ow!" He started limping toward the elevator. "Dr Chakwas knows you are coming, Jeff." said EDI. Garrus came down the elevator, his armor looking battered. "Ensign Copeland, come with me. We are going to survey the stability of our landing zone." The went through the air lock and hopped down. It was a lovely day on Eden Prime, but the agricultural zone was nowhere in sight. Just mountains and valleys everywhere they looked. EDI's voice came on Garrus' omni-tool. "I am picking up civilian comm chatter, planetside only. There is also fleet com, ah, incoming com request, Orizaba." "This is the Orizaba to any fleet vessels in the Utopia system. Please respond." Garrus responded, "Orizaba, this is Normandy, Advisor Garrus Vakarian in interim command. We are emergency landed on Eden Prime, in the mountains, assessing damage now." "Thank you, Normandy. Your position is noted. Please advise of damage assessment when complete."

Garrus looked at the section of plating that had impacted the mountain. "Actually held up pretty good." said Ensign Copeland. "Now, so long as we don't bring any more down on top of us, we should be able to get spaceborne fairy quickly." EDI chimed in "Diagnostics on all critical systems are being performed now. Early estimate is that flight systems will be functional within two hours." Garrus said, "Please relay that estimate to the Orizaba, EDI."

Garrus went back into the ship to see if Dr Chakwas or Samesh needed help.

Two hours later, Joker gingerly lowered himself back into his chair and engaged the ship's Mass Effect field. Then they slowly lifted off, letting the boulders roll away under them. Once they were clear, Joker boosted them up and out of the atmosphere.

They docked with Orizaba. Garrus went aboard and was escorted to the Captain's quarters. Captain Decker got up and shook Garrus' hand and said "Welcome aboard, Advisor Vakarian. The mass relay is severely damaged. No signals are going in or out of there, much less ships. There are a fair number of ships that survived the battle from the group assigned to rendezvous here. I'm going to send about half of them to the Asgard system to help with reconstruction there. I know you want to get back to Earth as soon as possible but there's no way open to us until the mass relays are fixed. I'd like you to take the Normandy to assess the damage of the mass relay. Then we can devise a plan to fix it and hope the others can fix theirs, too." "Then the mass relay will be our priority, Captain." said Garrus.

Decker outlined how he was going to assign teams to reconstruct the fuel production facilitities and the fueling station. He also had a team going down to Eden Prime to arrange for food supplies. He looked at Garrus, "How much dextro food do you have? You have yourself and Tali'Zorah, right? I'll have all the dextro stores that we kept for guests transferred to you." He escorted Garrus to their galley to collect the dextro stocks. Garrus returned to the Normandy with a couple crates of boxed and frozen dextro supplies, which were delivered down to Samesh.

Garrus went up to the cabin. Parveen came in and put his tray on the coffee table. Callista came and crawled in under his crest and settled there, purring. He ate, then stared at Cassidy's picture frame for a bit, cycling through the pictures. He found their wedding pictures were on there now. He saw one that must have been from Hannah's point of view, catching their kiss. He copied that to his omni-tool. Then he went to bed. Callista placed herself under his hand and he petted her until he fell asleep.


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Cassidy opened her eyes to find herself in a make-shift medical facility, but with some very advanced equipment around. Clowder announced, "Dr Lawson, the Commander is awakening." Cassidy looked around, spotted Clowder. "Shepard, relax and stay down while I run a scan." said Miranda. "How bad is it?" asked Cassidy, noting a IV drip in her arm. "I've kept you sedated for three days to do extensive deep dermal regen, and to restock your blood glucose stores. You had pretty much depleted yourself. Your armor will need to be replaced."

"How about Liara and Javik, did they make it?" "Liara was nearly as depleted as you, though she did not have the extensive burns. I got her up and walking yesterday. Javik just needed some bone repair. They both are around somewhere." "Where are we?" "Bath, England. It was a tourist town with an Alliance hospital. The Reapers took out the hospital, but some of the most advanced equipment was smuggled out and hidden. Now many of those pieces are here. We are set up in a conference room of a small hotel."

Miranda continued, "You should be able to sit up now. I'm going to raise the head of the bed, 3, 2, 1 up." Cassidy got a little dizzy but that quickly passed. Liara came in with two trays. She came over and pulled Cassidy's bed table over and deposited both trays. Clowder passed a rolling chair with attached desk to Liara. "Thank you, Clowder, that was thoughtful." Liara took her tray and sat down. Cassidy asked, "What's the latest?" "Admiral Anderson is in a critical care unit just outside London. They're keeping him in a medical coma for the time being. There is a retired Admiral Yvonne Carter that has taken command. Mostly she has focused on getting roads open from town to town so that food can get transported and on repairing water and power distribution systems. Steve Cortez has been running errands for her in one of the five shuttles we have currently running."

Miranda came around and removed the IV from Cassidy's arm. "When you are done eating, I'd like you to get up and walk around a bit." Javik walked in, carrying a bag. "I have been asked to deliver this to you, Commander." He placed it on a table next to the bed. He continued, "I am relieved to see that you are up, Shepard." Steve Cortez walked in a duffle bag. "Hello, Shepard. I heard you were cognizant. This here is new armor for you, N7 stuff. Plus your weapons and the omni-tool that you had on the Citadel are in there." Cassidy said, "Thanks, Steve. I hear you are running errands for Admiral Carter." "Just until you are ready to be run around, Shepard."

Cassidy finished eating and excused herself to the bathroom, taking her bag of clothes with her. Liara escorted her. "There have been no communications from beyond the mass relay, it remains to be seen how damaged it is. There are no ships up there, all the ones that could evacuated just before we set off the Crucible, the rest were either destroyed by the Reapers or finished off the by the energy pulse." Cassidy was washed and dressed in fatigues again. She felt a bit more herself.

When Cassidy and Liara came back out, Admiral Carter was speaking with Miranda. Cassidy went up and saluted. Carter saluted and pulled a small bag out of her pocket. "Shepard, it is my pleasure to promote you to Captain." and she handed the bag to Cassidy. "Thank you, Admiral." "I'm afraid my joints no longer let me do small tasks so you will have to pin your rank on yourself. Seems appropriate, eh?" and Carter smiled and shook Cassidy's hand. "Captain, I am sending you out tomorrow to assess the damage of the mass relay. On the way, you are to check in on the Mars Research Station and the Gagarin Research Station." "Aye,aye, Ma'am."

said Cassidy. Carter turned to walk out, "Come on, Lt. Machin, no rest for the weary."

–

Joker brought the Normandy up to the mass relay. It appeared dormant. The mass of eezo was still in the center, but the concentric rings were blown in pieces. He ran a light along the bottom edge of the relay until he found the entry. He slowly approached and was relieved when the door opened onto the hanger. Cortez flew the shuttle inside the relay hangar.

Garrus, Ashley and Tali stepped out. EDI said "There is air here, the mixture matches Eden Prime's atmosphere." Tali said, "Look, there are running lights on the floor, like it wants us to come fix it." Garrus said, "All the dormant relays were reported to have guidance to activate them. I'm guessing the relay has reset itself after the power overload. Let's go have a look." They followed the running lights across the hanger and through a pair of doors. "These doors appear to be able to act as an air lock." noted Ashley. The lights led them to a console. The monitor showed an outline of the mass relay, with the concentric rings flashing red. Garrus touched the red on the monitor. The scened shifted to an overview of the system and showed red flashes flying outward from the relay.

Tali said, "It looks like its giving us the position of the fragments. What, so we can collect them and put them back together?" Garrus said, "Those fragments are huge. We may need help to get them back here." EDI continued, "Perhaps we should do an FTL jump to the furthest one out and see if we are capable of getting a mass effect field around it."

They returned to the ship and EDI calculated the jump to get beyond the furthest piece. They jumped and when Joker turned the ship to look at the fragment, EDI said "I am getting a signal from the fragment." "It is sending a image, looks like the Normandy attached to the fragment, then a field going up, then the Normandy and the fragment returning to the mass relay." Joker said, "Getting close, matching velocity, touching down . . . OK EDI put up the field." Joker engaged the engine until they had reversed the direction of travel. EDI said "I have calculated a return FTL jump. However afterward our fuel will be down to 20%." "Well let's jump this piece back and we can go see about fuel."

The jump back went smoothly. As they approached the mass relay, the piece directed them to disengage and drop the field, so they did. The piece floated slowly toward the eezo mass, then beams came out from the mass relay, stopping the piece. EDI brought up the map from the console inside the relay . . . it showed 7 more pieces out there. "Well we can't do anything about those until we deal with fuel." said Garrus. "Let's call it a night."

–

Cassidy finished her breakfast with Liara in her newly assigned room in another small hotel. Liara, Javik, Samara, Jacob, Zaeed, Major Kirrahe, Clowder and Steve Cortez were all assigned to the same hotel. EDI's platform was part of Cassidy's "stuff" now. Miranda had been asked to go to London to take over Admiral Anderson's care. Wrex and Grunt had gone to organize the krogan effort to assist reconstruction.

They loaded up into the shuttle and Cortez lifted them up out of the atmosphere. "Next stop, Mars." he said just before jumping them. On Mars, Cortez landed in between the buildings among the Cerberus vehicles, which were still where they had been when the Normandy had landed here at the start of the Reaper invasion. They went inside and retraced the route they had taken, there was still power, but there were no bodies, neither Alliance nor Cerberus. They took the trams over and went down to the Prothean data tower. Liara and Clowder went to the console. Clowder showed her lists of files that he was finding, showing them slow enough that she could browse the list and choose ones she wanted to download. Finally she said, "That's enough for now. I could spend weeks in here."

They reversed course back out to the shuttle and jumped to Gagarin Station. There wasn't much left of the station, just fragments. They turned their attention to the mass relay. They got inside, followed the running lights to the console. The image of the relay was flashing red along the inside of the the circle surrounding the eezo core as well as in the place where the concentric rings should be. The screen changed to a chemical reaction schematic, along with an amount of 8 metric tons. Then it showed a map of the interior of the station. Cassidy copied the chemical reaction image. Lighted arrows led them to another section where they found a heavy door with a chute behind it. The screen above the door indicated that the reactants should be put down the chute.

Then the screed switched to the system overview with the fragments highlighted.

Cassidy looked at the fragment icons on the screen. She touched one of them, a box popped up with its speed and its mass. Cassidy said, "Wow, if we had the Normandy, we could probably get mass effect fields on these, but the shuttle doesn't have enough power for that." Clowder said, "I will consider ways to solve that problem, Captain." They went back to the shuttle and jumped back to Earth. Cortez landed them at their hotel. Cassidy went inside and contacted Admiral Carter and made her report. Carter ordered her to lead the operation to repair the mass relay, suggesting she look into salvaging a ship from the debris in near Earth space.

Cassidy joined them all for lunch in the ballroom turned mess hall. Cassidy said, "So, Admiral Carter suggested we see if we can salvage a ship. So, we're going up on a survey this afternoon to see what's up there." Zaeed replied, "It might be something of a catch-22. A small ship might be salvageable in a week, but the eezo core would be too small for those fragments. A big ship would take much longer to put back in working order." Clowder said, "Captain, there is a geth dreadnought in orbit, being repaired now. Once the dreadnought is ready, we could do the repair work on an Alliance vessel much faster, since we can work without atmosphere." "That's a generous offer, Clowder. We'll probably take you up on that." said Cassidy.

Cortez took them up after lunch to do the survey. Clowder said, "When a Reaper destroyed a single vessel, the eezo core was targeted. If a Reaper beam caught two ships, one of them might have kept its core. In a smaller battle, the second vessel's core would be confiscated for resources, but in this last battle the Reapers did not reach the collection of resources stage." Samara said, "Then a core large enough for our needs could be out there." Cortez said, "Scanning for eezo cores."

Cassidy saw it out the window, an Alliance cruiser, cut in two at an oblique angle from just above the bow down through engineering, but the core was there, still glowing. Cortez brought them around to read the name, she was the 'Baton Rouge'. Clowder asked "This is the vessel you wish to be repaired, Captain?" "Yes, Clowder, please ask your fellow geth if they would do that for us." "Our dreadnought is not fully functional, but they will reposition it here so that geth platforms can begin work."


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Garrus noted that had taken just over 6 weeks to reconstruct a fuel processing plant and fuel station and another 3 then to finish collecting he fragments of the mass relay. They were watching the final piece being maneuvered into place by the mass relay's beams. EDI said, "We are being instructed to retreat for our safety." Joker said, "Backing off." When they had reached the instructed distance from the relay, they switched to scanner. The relay's rings started getting brighter and brighter until EDI turned off the scanner to avoid damage. EDI said, "We will be unable to approach for another day."

The next day they went back and the rings were no longer glowing and they seemed to be intact once more, but they were not spinning. EDI said, "I can remotely activate the relay, if you wish, Adviser." Garrus felt his belly tighten. "Yes, EDI, activate the relay." The rings began to slowly spin, gaining speed with each revolution. After five minutes, EDI said, "The relay is active. I will scan for signals. There is no response from the Charon relay, Arcturus, Widow, Hades Gamma or Kite's Nest. The Horse Head Nebula relay is active. Noveria is broadcasting a request for trade for food." Garrus said, "EDI, send a report to Captain Decker."

Decker asked them to travel to Eden Prime to collect an initial shipment of processed foods and take it to Noveria, then he said, "Do as you see fit from there, Adviser. It has been an honor working with you, sir." "Likewise, Captain Decker."

Joker got them to Eden Prime where 3 planetary shuttles were waiting. They transferred the food crates to Normandy's cargo bay. Garrus said, "Let's go to Noveria, Joker." "ETA, 4 hours, Adviser."

Garrus went down to the galley where Raja prepared his lunch tray. There were still some dextro stores, but it was down to pretty basic staples. Garrus and Tali were looking forward to hopefully restocking soon.

When they docked at Noveria, they were greeted by happy dock workers. Garrus came out with Ashley and Tali. Gianna Parasini came walking down to their dock. "Adviser, we are glad to see you. We just reactivated our mass relay last night. We owe the Alliance and the other galactic forces a great deal for keeping the Reapers and Cerberus off of Noveria. If there's anything we can do, please let us know." Garrus said, "Do you have any dextro food stores remaining, Ms Parasini?" "Actually one of our companies has developed a self-contained dextro biosphere for dextro food production on levo worlds. They also have the reverse. Let me put through a call and see how much they have available. Come on in to my desk."

They went in. Gianna led them around to a back hallway and to an elevator. They went down several floors and then emerged into a well lit, elegantly appointed lobby. She led them to an office door and invited them inside. She sat behind her desk and made the call, placed an order and arranged for delivery. "They had an assortment of grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, some meat. I ordered that everything ready for shipment be sent over. Now, I need to transfer some credits, to Eden Prime's account for the shipment you brought and to the Alliance for shipping." "I thought you were Internal Affairs, Ms Parasini." "In a reprise of my role as Administrator's secretary, I was promoted to Administrator's Adjutant. Essentially I can do whatever needs doing in the Administrator's name."

They told stories about the Battle for Earth. While they were conversing, EDI interrupted, "Adviser, I'm getting a signal from the Salarian Union. They just reactivated their home relay in the Annos Basin." "That's good news." said Garrus. Ashley said, "I'd like to shop, Garrus, before we go. My armor needs replacement." Garrus said, "Yes, I could do with a new set as well." Gianna stood up. "I'll take you back to the main entry." She led them back. She said, "You know where the shops are. I'll let you know when your dextro shipment arrives. It was good to see you all."

–

The geth had their dreadnought ready and a couple of their cruisers. They took on the reconstruction of the Baton Rouge with fervor, and sent teams to collect the reactants for the mass relay. It took them 3 months, where the reconstruction in human drydock would have taken much longer.

Admiral Anderson was back on his feet. He took over the direction of the reconstuction effort, and Admiral Carter gratefully returned to her retirement. Anderson looked at Cassidy, "I want you and your group to take the Baton Rouge and get out as soon as the mass relay is active. Your job is to find the Normandy and take command again. Captain Elian Yannis will accompany you as your XO and then take command of the Baton Rouge when you move to the Normandy. We cannot spare the full crew for a cruiser, but we do have 137 crew that survived the destruction of their ships and landed on Earth in escape shuttles." Cassidy turned and shook hands with Yannis. "A pleasure to meet you, Captain Shepard. I was one of those that came down in an escape shuttle. I was on the the Minneapolis." said Yannis. Cassidy said, "Work out a transfer schedule to get food supplies and the crew on board. I and my team will bring up our shuttle. Then Cortez can assist you with the crew and supplies." "Aye, aye, Ma'am" said Yannis and he turned to go.

Cassidy went to the hotel to pack up her stuff. Clowder knocked. "Yes, Clowder?" "Captain, would you like me to accompany you on the Baton Rouge, or return to the geth?" "If you are willing, Clowder, I'd like you to become part of my crew on the Baton Rouge and then on the Normandy, when we find her." "I will gladly integrate into your team, Captain."

Miranda, Wrex and Grunt returned, wanting to go out with Cassidy on the Baton Rouge. That made her group to be 13, plus EDI's platform. Cortez took them up in two shifts. Cassidy went up in the first shift. She opened the shuttle door and the ship VI spoke. "The Baton Rouge is ready for service, Captain Shepard." "Captain Cassidy Shepard, taking command of the Baton Rouge." "Welcome aboard, Captain. If you will follow the green running lights on the floor, they will take you to your cabin on deck 1. The remainder of your crew here present can follow the white running lights to the crew quarters on deck 3."

When Cassidy got to her cabin, she unpacked her stuff into the locker. She sat EDI's platform in a chair. The VI spoke, "Captain, Clowder is outside your cabin and would like a word." "Let him in. Hello, Clowder. Come in. What can I do for you?" "Captain, when the geth reconstructed the Baton Rouge, they added databases and processing power to the VI's room. If you approve, I can connect the VI to these resources and upload the necessary programs for the VI to become an AI, like myself, only more so." "So, the Baton Rouge would get a lot of Legion's programming?" "Yes, Captain." "Then do it." "What name will you give to the AI?" "How about 'Evette"?" "Then you would like a feminine AI?" "Yes." Clowder left the room.

Cassidy went to wash up, then changed into a clean set of fatigues. As she was tying her boots, a new voice sounded, "Captain Shepard, I am Evette, at your service. I thank you for allowing me to become. I look forward to our work together in the days to come." "You're welcome, Evette. Please give me running lights to the mess hall."

When she got to the mess hall, she was taken aback a bit by its size, being used to frigates. She didn't see anyone. "Evette, is XO Yannis aboard?" "XO Yannis is still on Earth, overseeing the transfer of supplies and crew, Captain." "Running lights to the med bay, please."

Cassidy toured the ship, getting around to all the different areas and ending up on the bridge. A young soldier came in behind her. Cassidy turned around and the soldier came to attention "Flight Lieutenant Renee Pan, reporting for duty, C .. Captain Shepard." Cassidy saluted, "At ease, soldier. Have you met Evette?" "Yes, Captain, the VI gave me guidance to the crew area and then to here." "She's an AI, Pan." "An AI, Captain? Is that safe?" "Do you feel safe around me, Pan?" "Yes, Captain, but an AI" "Stop right there. Evette is a person. She is Alliance just like we are." "The Captain is correct, Lieutenant Pan." said Evette.

An hour later, Yaniss' voice came on her omni-tool, "All crew and supplies aboard, Captain. Mess Sargeant Young says sandwich fixin's are in the mess. She says you and your team are welcome to come down before the first crew rotation begins in half an hour." "Thank you, Yaniss." "Evette, invite my team to join me in the mess hall for sandwiches."

–

Garrus and Ashley had new sets of armor, which they brought on board with them. Tali hadn't found anything she wanted to buy.

"Joker, let's head for Sur'kesh." "On our way, Adviser."

Garrus invited Ashley to play ping pong. They played hard. Ashley won the first game. The second game was at 15-16 in Garrus' favor when Callista came off the elevator. Ashley served and the ball started flying. Callista jumped up on the table and knocked the ball aside, then raced off after it. Ashley burst out laughing. Garrus went to get another ball. They started the point again. They got a few more points in before Callista came back onto the table. She swung, but missed the first time. On the second try she connected and the ball shot off to the side and Callista ran after it.

Tali came in, saw the both of them looking off to the side and laughing. "What's so funny?" Garrus said, "Callista has decided she likes to play." The ball shot across Tali's path and Callista came running full tilt after it. They decided to interact with Callista by catching the ball when they could and bouncing it for her to bat at.

Lunchtime came and they put the paddles and balls away. Garrus and Tali were looking forward to fresh food.

On their way in to Sur'kesh, a salarian scout vessel approached, "Normandy, our captain would like a word. He requests permission to come aboard." Garrus said, "Permission granted. Pull alongside and extend your docking tube."

"Adviser Vakarian, I am Captain Minnon, STG. May we consult in private please?" "Come this way, Captain." said Garrus. Garrus lead him to the elevator and up to the cabin. Garrus sat on the desk. "Adviser, the political situation on Sur'kesh is tense. The dalatrasses are divided and fighting. Normandy's involvement in the genophage cure is at the center of the storm. What can we do for you, Advisor?"

"We are interested in any information that you may have gotten via your mass relay since you reactivated it recently, Captain." "Our relay only connects to the Horse Head Nebula and the Serpent Nebula. When we reactivated it a short time ago, we got signals from Noveria. There is nothing from the Serpent Nebula. But then there have been no signals ever since the Reapers took the Citadel and destroyed the Beckenstein colony, other than ships jumping to here."

Garrus said "Hmm, that's not surprising, there would be no ships there to repair and reactivate that relay. Which basically means that we are cut off from the rest of the Citadel space." "We came to the same conclusion, Adviser."

Garrus said, "Well, I guess we will need to find another way into the Serpent Nebula. Thank you for letting us know about the situation here, Captain. We will be heading back." "Then I will return to my ship, Adviser."

When Captain Minnon's ship moved off, Garrus said, "Get us back the Horse Head Nebula, Joker."

–

Cassidy was on the bridge behind Pan, Clowder was at the Navigation station. Evette said, "Repairs on the mass relay confirmed completed. We may activate at any time. Shall I do so, Captain?" "Yes, Evette, activate the relay."

The repaired concentric circles began spinning. "What interclusteral signals can you pick up, Evette?" "Exodus Cluster relay is active, Arcturus is not, Captain." "Clowder, plot a course to the Exodus Cluster." "Course plotted, Captain." said Clowder. "Let's go, Pan." "Going, Captain"

When they arrived in the Exodus Cluster, Evette said, "Captain, Com request from the Orizaba, CO Captain Decker." "Baton Rouge? This is Captain Decker on the Orizaba. Please respond." "Captain Decker, this is CO Captain Cassidy Shepard. We are pleased to announce the Charon relay is active." "That's good news, Captain Shepard. Good to hear your voice! If you don't mind my asking, how did you get the Baton Rouge functional again? I saw her get sliced in half by a Reaper beam." "The geth put her back together for us. Have you heard from the Normandy?" "The Normandy was here, had emergency landed on Eden Prime due to the Crucible shock wave. Adviser Vakarian took her through to the Horse Head Nebula just a couple days ago." "Thank you for the news, Captain. We'll be heading to . . . " Evette interrupted, "Com request from the Normandy, Captain." "Thank you, Orizaba. Baton Rouge, out."

"Normandy, this is the Baton Rouge, CO Captain Cassidy Shepard." "Shepard! That's fantastic!" said Joker. "Hang on, Captain. We're coming to you. Normandy out."

"Captain Yannis, report to the bridge." "Aye, aye Captain." When Yannis arrived, Cassidy smiled and said, "The Normandy is on the way. I'm going to go pack." "I'm very happy for you, Shepard." "Thank you, Yannis." Cassidy walked to her cabin and packed. "Evette, let the team know to report to the shuttle for transfer to the Normandy. Cortez, get the shuttle fired up, we're returning home to the Normandy."

Cassidy picked up her bags and put them on the table. She looked over at EDI's platform, which sat up and looked back at her. "Hello Shepard, I am pleased you recovered my platform from the Citadel. The Normandy is now in the Exodus Cluster. You may bring the shuttle over when you're ready." "OK EDI, let's go."

"Captain Yaniss, I relinquish command of the Baton Rouge to you." "Captain Shepard, I take command of the Baton Rouge." Cassidy squeezed into the shuttle with her team. Cortez flew them out of the Baton Rouge and into the waiting cargo bay of the Normandy.

"Adviser Vakarian, I hereby resume command of the Normandy." "Captain Shepard, I return command of the Normandy to you, her commanding officer" said Garrus. Cassidy stepped out of the shuttle to the applause of the crew. Ensign Copeland came up and took her bags. Garrus came up and hugged her, breathing into her hair. She tilted her head up and kissed him, then pushed off. "OK, crew let's get everybody settled. Wrex and Grunt, take the area under Engineering, EDI show Clowder where Legion used to stay. Ashley, I need you to accommodate Miranda and Samara in the Observation Lounge with you. Javik, will you host Jacob and Zaeed?" "Yes, Captain" said Javik. Cassidy continued, "Major Kirrahe, you will be in the Life Support room. James, Steve, you may resume where you where. Everyone dismissed , let's get settled in."


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

The crew parted to let Cassidy and Garrus get to the elevator first. Ensign Copeland put her bags in behind them. When they got up top, Garrus grabbed her bags and took them into the room. Cassidy came in to see Callista on the desk. "Mrack!" said Callista. Cassidy scritched Callista behind the ears and petted her. "I missed you, too, Callista."

Garrus grabbed her hand and pulled her down into the room. He held her head and kissed her deeply, then hugged her and held on. "I'm so glad you're back! I missed you." said Garrus. She reached to the side and unclipped one of his clips, then the rest to get his top off. The she undid her top and let it fall. She reached up and kissed him deeply. "I missed you, too." she said.

He reached around and unhooked her bra and drew it off her. He gently backed her up to the bed and got her to stand on it. He licked her nipples while unhooking her pants, drawing them down enough to reach in with his talon and rub her clit while he went back to licking her nipples. He stepped back to remove the remainder of his clothes, she sat down on the bed to remove hers.

She pulled him close and took hold of his cock, licked it up and down on each side. Then she laid back. Garrus got on his knees and licked her clit while he put a finger inside her. He moved down and licked inside her, rubbing her clit with his finger. She moaned.

He straightened up and grabbed her hips, entering her in one forceful push. He rocked back and forth, stroke after stroke, getting faster and faster, until she cried out and he came. She reached up and pulled him back with her onto the bed, kissing him. Callista came and sat behind her head, purring.

"Anderson gave us a mission." "Anderson made it?" "With a lot of medical care from Miranda, after she got me going again." "What mission?" "Find the Destiny Ascension. Return the Council to the Citadel." "The Serpent Nebula has nobody in it to fix that relay." "We'll have to find a way to get that done, then, so we can hop over to Asari and Turian space." "Lunch is soon, we should go down for it."

Cassidy took a quick shower and dressed. Garrus did the same. They went down to the mess hall, Samesh had put out a buffet, a big table with blue cloth for the levo stuff and a little table with a red cloth for the dextro stuff. Many people ate standing up, Cassidy and Garrus took their usual places. Liara sat next to Garrus. "I was happy to get to my stuff, particularly Glyph."

"I think our first order of business will be to take Major Kirrahe back home." said Cassidy. Joker came and sat on a chair at the end of the table. Parveen brought Joker a plate with a little of everything. "Thank you for bringing EDI's platform back, Captain. I really like having her back on the bridge with me." "You're welcome, Joker." Dr Chakwas came and sat next to Cassidy, hugging her from the side. "Its good to have you home, Cassidy." she whispered.

Clowder came into the room. "Captain, I would like to talk to people here, if I may." "Feel free, Clowder." They all updated each other on what had been going on while the mass relays were down. EDI came up. "Captain, Evette said that she was the descendant of the Baton Rouge's VI and Clowder?" "That's correct, EDI." "I have been conversing with her and answering a lot of her questions. I think she and I are going to be friends." "I'm glad, EDI."

They went back to the Annos Basin. The same salarian scout ship hailed them. "What can we do for you, Normandy?" "This is Captain Shepard. We have Major Kirrahe and he would like to go home." "We will dock with you and Major Kirrahe may come aboard."

Cassidy shook hands with Major Kirrahe as he disembarked. "It was good to work with you, Captain. Take care." "It was good to work with you, too. Goodbye, Major."

"Joker, take us back to Earth. Miranda, you may move to the Life Support Room if you like."

The next morning, Cortez took Cassidy, Garrus, Samesh, EDI and Clowder down to London. Admiral Anderson met them in the current version of Alliance HQ. Cassidy noted that lights were on and quite a few vehicles were parked neatly around. "Good to see you, Shepard! As you can see, we are slowly making progress with reconstruction. We have expanded our focus to salvage and to getting food and fuel processing facilities functional. What have you found out there?" "So far, Exodus, Horse Head, and Annos Basin relays are functioning. There is a remnant of the Fifth Fleet in Exodus, headed by Captain Decker on the Orizaba. The Salarians are in a political squabble over what to do if anything about the genophage cure. We are not welcome there at this point. We are cut off from the Turian and Asari sections of space because there's nobody left at the Widow Relay to repair and reactivate it."

"I see. So, what do you think we should do next?" asked Anderson. "EDI and Clowder have come up with an idea about that." EDI said, "We know that the Reapers were able to cross interclusteral distances based on their travel from the destroyed Alpha Relay to the next one in The Kite's Nest and on the moving of the Citadel from the Serpent Nebula to here. The moving of the Citadel took 8 weeks, using 24 of the Harbinger-class ships to get a mass effect field around the Citadel. We have available to us one functioning Reaper power source, originally taken by Cerberus from the Collector base we destroyed, now in the remains of the Crucible. We could attach that to the Normandy, and that could power interclusteral travel. My estimate is based on distance because so we would want to depart from the closest mass relay, which is the Annos Basin. That would then be about 4 weeks travel. Then, based on which relays have been activated on the other side, we would plan where to go next."

"How would we get the power source onto the Normandy?" asked Anderson. Clowder said "We could construct an anchoring system to the bottom of the Normandy, and attach the power source then encase it, retractable legs could be included in the encasement for landing purposes." "Sounds like you have it all planned out then. I'm approve. What do you need from me?" Cassidy said, "This is Samesh Bahtia, our civilian chef and galley supervisor. He has a list of the food we would need, levo and dextro, for the 4 weeks." "The levo is no problem, but the dextro here is getting low, as the turian survivors are using the stores." "You could get the Baton Rouge to take the turians to Noveria. They have a self-contained dextro agricultural habitat, which should support them until we can open the way to turian space." suggested Garrus. "Alright then, I'll make the calls to put all this in motion. Mr Bahtia, if I could copy that provisions list, I should have everything ready for you by the time the geth get the Normandy refitted. The rest of your crew are welcome down here for shore leave during the refit."

Cassidy arranged things between EDI, Clowder and Cortez. EDI took the Normandy over to the Crucible remains and the geth joined the Normandy over there. The crew were assigned quarters in a nearby hotel. Diana Allers spent the week documenting the damage from the war and the reconstruction effort. Cassidy and Garrus went up to the Citadel to see how far the keepers had got in restoration of the Presidium.

They landed the shuttle at the docking bay and went in through the door into the docking tube. The ambulance and two cabs were still parked at the cab stand. They took one of the cabs and went down to the Presidium level. They went out to the base of the Citadel tower and parked. The exterior of the tower seemed to be intact. They went to the door and it opened at their approach.

The elevator appeared to be functional, so they got in and the elevator rose up what seemed to Cassidy to be the same amount of time as it had always taken to get to the Council audience level. They walked up the stairs. The park area had been replanted. There were saplings instead of the full size trees that had been there. Cassidy noted that there were some office areas that still had broken glass, as one of the keepers was removing glass shards from their frame. They walked all the way up to the Citadel control panel. Cassidy activated it and looked over the various readouts about the Presidium.

Garrus said, "It looks like power is restored on the Presidium ring and damaged structures are slowly being demolished." Cassidy said, "I wonder what they did with the pieces of the human Reaper that had been started here." Cassidy changed the display to show info about the wards. "Wow, only 5% of Zakera Ward is accessible right now. Well, I guess we should leave them to it."

They flew the shuttle out to the Normandy's reconstruction site. She could see the top side of the Normandy, but the lower end was completely exposed now. EDI's voice came on, "As you can see, Captain, work is proceeding. The geth want to know if you would like an additional deck, below the cargo bay." "I can see that now is the time to put something like that in. Yes, tell them we would like the additional deck." Garrus said, "We might as well since we're deepening the Normandy about half again its original height. We could move crew quarters and the mess hall down there." EDI said, "I will give them plans for a galley, mess hall and expanded crew quarters in the additional deck."

Cassidy and Garrus went back to London.

At the end of the week, EDI notified them that the Normandy was about to land in an open area to the south of the city. Cortez took Cassidy and Garrus up in the shuttle to fly around the ship as it landed, Cassidy decided that it would take some getting used to the new shape. "EDI, what is the outer armor made of? It looks like Reaper armor." "You are correct, Captain. The geth removed pieces of armor from one of the Reaper corpses in the vicinity, melted them down, re-cast them in new shapes and used them on the Normandy."

Cortex dropped Cassidy and Garrus off in the cargo bay. They went to the elevator and found that it went down two more stops. The went down one and inspected the new deck. The galley was larger and now had a walk-in freezer. There were two big tables and four smaller ones in the mess hall. The crew quarters was about half again as large as the previous one had been and there were rooms that could be used for whatever. Each room had a closet with two folding cots.

The lowest deck was where the power source was. They went down and looked at it through a transparent shielding. There didn't seem to be any direct access to it, but then again, she figured, they wouldn't be able to do anything about it anyway, if it malfunctioned.

They went up to Deck 3 and saw that the galley and the tables were gone, leaving a large open space.

EDI said that the first shuttle load with Samesh, Raja, Parveen, James, Ashley and the food supplies had arrived. Cassidy and Garrus went down to help with unloading the shuttle. "Ash, you can take the room that used to be crew quarters on Deck 3." said Cassidy as they were putting crates onto the cart. "Samesh, the galley and crew quarters are now on Deck 6."

When everybody was aboard, Cassidy said, "Ready Joker?" "Its going to take a bit to get used to the new feel of the ship. We've put on a few inches, ya know?" "Take us to the Annos Basin." "Aye, Aye, Captain." He started their jump to the Charon relay. Cassidy went to check on how everybody was settling in. She started at Deck 6.

Samesh said, "Captain, I am grateful for the additional space, the walk-in freezer is perfect. The geth did a wonderful job, all the work tables are jointless on the surface. And I have a room for myself at the back, very nice! Lunch will be on time, Captain." "I'm glad you're happy with the upgrade, Samesh"

She went to Jacob's room. "Hey Jacob" "Hey Captain" "Did you know where Brynn was going when the Crucible shipped out?" "She was assigned to an agricultural ship, they were sent out to Virmire to wait for Admiral Hackett and the rest of the fleet that was assigned out there. No doubt they got their relay working but if nobody's at Hades Gamma, it may be that our daughter will come before I get back to them. Brynn wants to name her Cassidy, if that's ok with you." "I'm honored, Jacob."

Next door she found Zaeed, "Not retiring yet, Zaeed?" "I'll think about it when I find a planet that's ready for tourism." "I hear ya. Glad to have your own space again?" "Javik is quite the interesting guy. We traded some war stories. I'm kinda glad we were jammed in together for a bit."

Next was Grunt. "Your new room OK?" "Helps to be alone again, Shepard. Easier to keep my temper. There aren't any junior krogan heads to knock if I get angry. Too bad Jack stayed on Earth though. I miss watching her bust heads."

Cassidy went to see the shower heads in the women's bathroom on 6, since Samantha had said some time ago that the ones on 3 were crap. She turned the water on and tested the pressure control and the heat control, then turned it off again. Seemed good, it was geth manufactured.

She went up to 4 see Diana Allers. "Captain! I've got quite a few reports ready for when the coms get back on. I suppose that will mean waiting for satellite and dish relays to be rebuilt. I don't even know if my . . well, we'll see, won't we. I suppose that the new power source is classified?" "Well, as classified as anything like that can get. We won't be able to hide the fact that we are jumping interclusteral distances, so the deductions will happen, but we won't comment." "That's what I figured. Oh, ah, Captain. A personal issue. Do you mind if I invite Samantha to move in here with me?" "No problem with me, Diana. I'm glad for you two."

It was lunch time, so Cassidy went down to the new mess hall. Garrus was already there and had chosen a seat at one of the big tables. She went and sat across from him. Garrus said, "That power source is going to make our main gun the envy of the turian fleet and the terror of pirates and slavers. I checked the reports and the geth replaced our gun barrels to be able to take the beefed up beam." EDI's voice came on his omni-tool, "I determined that the more energetic beam would destroy the gun itself, so I asked for the replacement." "That was thoughtful, thank you, EDI" said Cassidy. "EDI, what does the new power source do to our stealth capability?" asked Garrus. "The power source's high-frequency radiations are minimal, Garrus. However, the geth used the space around the source to add capacitors to the stealth system to cover going into and out of interclusteral flight." "Hopefully we won't be pressed to test those systems in earnest anytime soon." said Cassidy.


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

They arrived in the Annos Basin in the afternoon. The salarian scout hailed them. Cassidy said, "Just passing through, Captain Minnon" "What? What do you mean passing through? The Widow relay is not active!" "We'll see you some other time, Captain. Normandy out." "Let's jump, Joker." "Jumping, Captain."

Cassidy held her breath as she watched the speed and position monitor that EDI put up for her. The transition to FTL was so smooth and the speed crept up with amazing swiftness and then evened out. Joker said, "ETA 4 weeks 3 days 2 hours, Captain. Kinetic barriers up and stronger than they've ever been. If you don't mind I think I'll go get a snack." "Feel free. Did you have your lunch up here?" "Often do, especially since you brought Samesh, Raja and Parveen on. Parveen particularly likes the view from here. Do you know she's been asking me about James?" "Has she? Well, it will be interesting to see how that plays out in the next 4 weeks, eh? We'll be our own soap opera." "Yea, 'As the Normandy Sails'."

They spent the time with multiplayer video games, ping pong, volleyball, poker, cribbage, backgammon, chess and billiards tournaments, group movie screenings, special dinner nights. There was Set, chinese checkers, checkers, euchre, hearts and bridge. Clowder even set up laser tag in the cargo bay (Cassidy only played if she was specifically invited). There was sparring and forms. There were dance nights, and since one the marines was a caller, they did square dancing and line dancing. Clowder was especially intrigued by the partner card games.

One day in the second week, as Cassidy was watching a backgammon game, James came to sit by her. "Hey, Lola, what do you know about Parveen?" "Samesh said she was in university for hospitality services and working for his restaurant for spending money before the Reapers hit. She likes Callista. Why?" "Honestly, I'm used to um, attracting attention from women fairly easily. But her, she treats me like everybody else, nothing special, you know? I don't know what's going on, I mean I haven't seen her with any of the other guys and not with any of the girls either."

Cassidy said, "Have you tried talking to her?" "Well, I can't seem to get anything out of my mouth when she's around." "What has she been doing for recreation?" "I've seen her playing bridge. I can't get my head around the bidding for that." "Hmm, maybe you could watch the bridge game and join in on the general conversation, see if you and she agree on something. Just a thought, something to try." "Yea, I see, avoid the tongue tying by talking to the group she's in. Yea, I can try that, to uh break the ice. Thanks, Lola." "That's me, a regular yenta now." James got up and went off. Cassidy smiled to herself over Parveen's tactics, then got up to join a volleyball game getting formed.

The next morning, Cassidy was teaching white belt form. Parveen was in the class, as well as Samantha and Tali (without her suit). Cassidy saw James out of the corner of her eye. When she came to a pause, she looked at him and said, "Would you like to join the class, Lieutenant?" "Um, uh, " "Get in line here, Lieutenant." "Aye, aye, Ma'am." She resumed teaching.

James caught up with Cassidy as she was leaving lunch. "Hey, Lola, why did you pull me into that class? You know I don't do that subtle shit." "1. You could use a little more grace in your movements. 2. You were looking way too stalkerish and 3. It gives you something in common with Parveen. She's taking to it like a duck to water. I might make her my assistant as we get into higher forms. See you at 0800 tomorrow."

In the third week she announced that the class would be testing in the class after next. She saw James get a slightly alarmed look on his face. She ran them through the form one at a time, correcting them as needed. Parveen's form was lovely as well as correct. James' was blocky and tentative. She asked Parveen to assist him while she worked with Samantha and Tali.

The next day, Parveen lined up next to James and gave him feedback when he asked. Cassidy asked them to sit outside the square and called Parveen up. Cassidy had them bow to each other. Then Cassidy set herself in the attack form which was the partner to the white belt defense form. She said "Go!" and timed her attacks so that Parveen was automatically blocking them as the form went on. When they finished, Cassidy reset Parveen to go again. This time Cassidy sped up her attacks a little so that Parveen would miss the blocks if she didn't speed up as well. Parveen got a slightly alarmed look as she just barely met the first attack and then a determined look and she watched Cassidy more carefully and confidently met the rest of the attacks. Cassidy bowed Parveen back to the edge then praised her quick adjustment. She backed up and asked Parveen to work with Tali and Samantha to work with James.

She tested them the next class and they all passed. James shook Parveen's hand, thanking her for the out-of-class help. Parveen said, "I was glad to be of assistance, Lieutenant." and caught up with Cassidy in the elevator. When the door closed, Parveen said, "Thank you, Captain, for pulling him into the class." "I had my own reasons, but you're welcome, Parveen."

She gave them the weekend off, then started yellow belt. Ensign Copeland joined them at this point, having demonstrated a very nice white form at the beginning, saying that he had just tested for white when the Reapers hit. She began with three elements, all attacks, that would be new to them in this form. When they looked to have gotten the idea, she got Ensign Copeland up and instructed him to throw one of the attacks, his choice. They bowed and Cassidy got into ready position, bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet and said "Go". Copeland went for the front kick and Cassidy blocked it, knocking his kick to the side of her. She had Copeland do the next one and the then the third, showing the proper blocks all basically knocking the attack off target, which were all in the white form. She paired them up, Parveen with Copeland, Samantha with Tali. Cassidy partnered James, who was very confident with this part of the work. When they finished, Cassidy ran them through the first leg of the yellow form. After they had some time working on that, she bowed them out of class.

By the end of the week, they had the full form to work on. Cassidy reminded them that they were due to arrive in a few days, so class would resume when they had a chance.

That evening, the movie was Blasto 4. Cassidy saw James approach the seat next to Parveen. He inquired and was apparently accepted.

Arrival day. Cassidy watched from behind Joker as the speed smoothly came down and then they transitioned out of FTL, landing with the mass relay off to their left. She had EDI scan, but there was nothing. They approached the mass relay and began the repair process. It took them only a few days, as they did not need to collect reactants for this relay, just the pieces. The pieces were a bit further out, having had weeks more to travel, but they were traveling at sub-light speeds, so it would just be the work of 5 days herding pieces back to the relay then the 6th in which the relay would fuse the pieces back into full rings.

On the 3rd day of gathering wayward relay pieces, they were out toward Beckenstein, so Cassidy had them take a break to FTL to that system. There was a little flotsam in the system from a destroyed fuel station, ships, com satellites, and relays. They orbited the planet and Cassidy had EDI search for any energy signatures. "Captain, there is a weak distress beacon. "Take us there. We'll go in the shuttle. You'll stay in orbit unless we need you."

They approached the beacon. There was a circle of ten tents, with a fire going in the center. Cassidy saw several teenage girls come out of the tents and wave up at the shuttle. Cortez put the shuttle down just beyond the tents. Cassidy came out and one of the girls ran up. "Oh, thank heavens. We didn't think anyone was going to come after awhile." "Is this all of you?" "No, our troop leaders are out with two teams hunting and gathering. Um, just a minute, I can call them in." She pulled up her omni-tool and got the troop leader on. "Mrs Hughes, an Alliance shuttle is here!" "That's wonderful! We're coming in. You call Mrs Deepak, too, please." "I will." She cut that com and then pulled up the other troop leader, "Mrs Deepak, an Alliance shuttle is here. I already told Mrs Hughes." "Fantastic news, dear. We're coming."

"I'm Captain Shepard, what's your name?" "I'm, uh, Melanie Rand" "Melanie, how many of you are there?" "Oh, there's 17 of us counting the leaders. We were caving, the entrance is just a mile over that way. We spent 3 days down there and when we came up and called for our ride back, there was no answer, and the extranet went down and there was no planetary news. We figured it was the Reapers and we debated hiding in the caves, but we didn't have that much food with us. We've been living off some abandoned fields." "Melanie, take a breath. Get everyone who is here now to pack up their personal stuff and take it over there by the shuttle." Melanie went back to the tents.

Cassidy looked at Ashley. "No problem, Shepard. I'll get cots set up in my place and I'll move down to a room on 6." Samara said, "I, too, will move to a room on 6. The remaining girls can have the Observation Lounge."

EDI said, "Captain, if you will give us an hour, Clowder and I can prepare bunks from omni-gel generated parts." "Alright, EDI, let me know when you're ready." Cassidy went to sit by the fire. There was a pot sitting over it. Cassidy took the spoon out and stirred whatever was in there. "Oh, Captain, you don't need to do that, I'm supposed to be doing that." Cassidy handed the girl the spoon. "What's your name?" "I'm Abby Parcell" "Captain, are we all there is left?" "As far as we know, Abby, I'm sorry." "We kind of figured. When we still couldn't get a signal nor any coms besides each other, well after the first month, we dared to get the homing beacon going. Then still nobody came for months. We figured they had to be gone." "I'll stir the soup, is that what's in there?" "Stew, with meat from rabbits. We have traps out and mostly what we get is rabbits." "OK, I'll stir the stew and you go pack." "OK, I'll go pack."

After about 30 minutes a group returned from the forest, carrying rabbits, bags of fruit, sheaves of some grain, and bags of something small and round, nuts Cassidy guessed. The adult woman came toward her and Cassidy stood. "Wendy Hughes, and you are?" "Captain Shepard of the Normandy." "Oh, my goodness, Captain, I've never met anybody from the news, of course, you've been promoted since then, oh, I'm sorry, I'm babbling. Let me get these girls packing." and she went off toward the tents.

Cassidy sat down again. Garrus came and sat down next to Cassidy. There are no life forms even as big as a varren for 2 kilometers in all directions. They're probably avoiding this site, especially if the girls have been hunting. "EDI asked us to wait so she and Clowder can make bunks. We have one more group coming in, and in fact that would be them." Cassidy stood up and waited for the group to make its way around the shuttle. The adult came up and shook Garrus' hand and Cassidy's hand. "Vanna Deepak. We're so glad to see you!" "Captain Shepard of the Normandy, my XO and husband, Adviser Garrus Vakarian." "Oh, Captain, wow. Um, I'll go get the girls to packing." and she walked off to the other side of the camp.

"Let's see what this group brought in . . . bean pods, tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, they must have found a garden or greenhouse. What else . . . a box of salt, a pepper grinder with peppercorns, a folded up rifle, and over here are chickens, no those are turkeys, I think, maybe they're a local variant. Hmm."

"Captain, we have 14 bunks and a cot in the old crew quarters and two cots in observation lounge." said Clowder on her omni-tool. "Thank you, Clowder. Samesh, we have some provisions coming up, some rabbits and some birds, like small turkeys. Some assorted farm and garden products." "That is good, Captain. Would there be any chance of you bringing in something like a cow or a pig or both?" "Let me find out, Samesh."

Cassidy told Garrus to stir the stew, then she went over to one side of the tents, "Mrs Hughes?" "Yes, Captain?" "Some of the stuff you have here tells me that there must be an abandoned farm nearby. Are there any food animals out there, cows or pigs or the like?" "Well there are fields and gardens but no structures. We figure somebody lived in town and commuted out here to tend the farm. That way is a big fenced-in field and there are oxen in it, but they stay out at the far end." "That way?" Cassidy pointed and Mrs Hughes said, "Yes, that way, in general." "Thank you, Mrs Hughes. You can get back to helping the girls pack."

Cassidy went up to Garrus. "Samesh would like a cow. There are some oxen in a field that way. Take Grunt. You shoot an ox in the head. Grunt can put it in the shuttle. Might as well get two if they're close to each other. Use your judgment." "Will do, Captain. See you in a bit." and Garrus messaged Grunt to meet him at the shuttle.

Cassidy watched the shuttle lift off and go. A couple of the girls came out their arms full of sleeping bags and duffel bags. "Where's the shuttle going?" asked one. "To go bring in a couple oxen." said Cassidy. "There's a whole herd out there, but its too far for us to drag one of them back here. Beside the others would probably attack us on the way back if we tried." said the other. "Sit down, have some stew while we wait."

The sun was setting when the shuttle returned Garrus and Grunt got out. There were two fairly big oxen in the shuttle. Grunt said,"I'm going to head up with these and any of that food that will fit in here." A half dozen of the girls got up and started taking the food bundles to the shuttle. Steve took Grunt and all the food back up to the Normandy.

By the time the shuttle returned, the tents were down and packed up and the stew was eaten, the dishes washed and packed. Cassidy said, "6 girls, their stuff. 4 tents. Ashley and Samara go with them." Mrs Hughes pointed counted out 6 girls. Those ran to grab their stuff and get on the shuttle. Ashley grabbed two tents and Samara grabbed the other two.

It took 2 more shuttle trips but they got everybody and everything onto the Normandy.

Dinner was a bit of a mad house. Samesh had a buffet going with plenty of choices, since he didn't know any of the girls' preferences. He and Raja kept cooking and refilling the buffet until he felt that folks had enough. Then Wrex and Grunt came to finish it all off.


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Cassidy gathered the troop in the cargo bay. "Girls, we are working on repairing the mass relay. That's going to take a few more days. So, while we are working on that, you can avail yourselves of our facilities. There's the volleyball net behind me, a ping pong table behind you. There are games upstairs on Deck 3. This is the ship's cat, Callista." Callista walked in and jumped up to Cassidy's shoulder, then down again and sat at her feet.

"There are restrooms on Decks 3 and 6. Please stay on either of those two decks or here on Deck 5. If you are not sure where you are or need to get somewhere, you can just say, "EDI, how do I to my quarters?" "Follow the running lights on the floor." said EDI. The girls looked down at the lights running away from Cassidy toward the elevator. "OK, EDI, drop the lights." "Any questions?" asked Cassidy. A hand went up. "My name is Jennifer Heinz. If you need to repair the mass relay, how did you get here from Earth, where you defeated the Reapers?" Cassidy smiled. "Astutely noted, Jennifer. New technology. That's all I'm going to say about it. Other questions?" "How many aliens are on board? Oh, sorry, my name is Deanna Hughes." "We have: one turian, Garrus Vakarian; one quarian, Tali'Zorah; two asari, Samara and Dr. Liara T'Soni; two krogan, Urdnot Wrex and Urdnot Grunt; one prothean, Javik; one geth, Clowder; and one AI, EDI."

Another hand went up. "My name is Elizabeth Hacker. Did the Reapers destroy all the cities on Earth?" "Yes, pretty much. Many buildings are standing, like hotels, offices and some shops but anything that produced anything got blasted away. There are Alliance troops working with our friends who helped in the final battle, that are working hard to repair roads, water supplies, food processing, and so on." Another hand. "My name is Kaitlyn Barnes. What is going to happen to us girls?" "Kaitlyn, for the next week or so, you will be our guests here on the Normandy. Then we will take you to Earth. Once com systems get back up, searches can be run for relatives, if you want, or if you are of age, you can apply to be assigned housing and a job, you can join the Alliance, or you can go with us to Eden Prime or Terra Nova. If you are not of age, Mrs Hughes and Mrs Deepak are your guardians by the Youth Leadership Conference rules, and you will be assigned a place with them and schooling or apprenticeships will be arranged. Does that sound reasonable to you all? Here on the ship it is currently 21:43, or 8:43 pm. We run a 24 hour day. The sun set on us on Beckenstein, so its evening for you, too, right?" Mrs Hughes answered, "Yes, Captain. I think its time to get all the girls settled for the night, as its actually later in the evening for us than for you." Some of the girls started to say "But I wanted to ask her . . " "You girls will see me around tomorrow, I'll answer more questions then, OK?" said Cassidy.

The girls got up and started walking back toward the elevator. Garrus came up behind Cassidy and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "It hasn't really hit those girls yet, has it? Its been kind of like one very long camping trip with their troop, so things still seem kind of normal to them." commented Garrus. Cassidy replied, "Yea, I really feel for those two women, who will have to deal with the girls' grief, their daughters' grief and their own grief. Dr Chakwas will help if need be but, I wish Kelly Chambers was here."

"What is 'of age' for humans?" asked Garrus, as they were walking toward the elevator. "18 is when they can vote, sign contracts and such. 21 is when they can legally purchase restricted items like alcohol and recreational drugs. And turians?" "We enter basic military training at 15, schooling is continued as part of that training. We spend 2 years there and at 17 we are assigned to our first post, so that would be 'of age' for us, I guess."

3 more days and EDI said, "Activating the relay now, Captain." Once the rings got going, EDI said "Krogan relay is active, Apien Crest relay is active, Athena Nebula relay is active, Minos Wasteland relay is active. Receiving signal from the Destiny Ascension. Patching it through . . ." "This is the Destiny Ascension to the ship in the Serpent Nebula, please respond." "Destiny Ascension, this is Council Spectre Alliance Captain Cassidy Shepard on the Normandy. Council Spectre Alliance Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams is on board as well." "One moment please, Captain . . . This is Councilor Tevos. Shepard it is so good to see your face. Please tell me, is the Citadel intact?" "Not entirely, Councilor. When I was last there about 5 weeks ago, the keepers had mostly repaired the Citadel tower and were clearing the debris in the Presidium. According to the Citadel control panel, only 5% of Zakera Ward was accessible, somewhat higher percentages on the other wards. No survivors on the Citadel unless they managed to evacuate. Are Councilors Valern and Sparatus with you?"

"Valern is anxious to go home. The salarians will be appointing a new Councilor. Sparatus is on Palaven, helping to direct reconstruction. Is the way open to Earth then?" "Yes, Councilor." "Then we will be on our way there, via Sur'Kesh. What are your plans now?" "I have some passengers to drop off then there are more relays that need attention." "Very well. We'll talk later. Destiny Ascension out."

"Joker, take us to Tuchanka." "Krogan homeworld, coming up, Captain." "Wrex, we'll be on Tuchanka before lunch." "Finally. Though I bet Bakara has everything in hand, and if her hands are full of babies, then Uta will have things in hand."

Tuchanka: Cassidy, Garrus, Wrex and Grunt got out of the shuttle. Wrex led the way down into the Urdnot camp. Uta was there to greet him. "If you want to see Bakara, you'll need to head to the women's camp." Wrex said "Grunt stay here." "Come on Shepard, Garrus. This way." They went down into a tunnel and got in a truck.

Wrex drove them for about 15 minutes. They stopped at a barricade and got out. Wrex walked them past the barricade and through a door. It was a krogan hospital. Wrex walked to the stairs and started downward. Finally the reached a door and the guards inside directed Wrex to the left.

They finally reached Bakara, who was in a chair, leaning back, her belly swollen. "Shepard, Vakarian, Wrex. I'm sorry I can't get up to greet you properly. I'm being treated for another infection." Bakara reached out a hand and took Cassidy's. She continued, "I am so pleased to see that you survived the destruction of the Reapers. You, too, Garrus. Wrex, you are just in time to knock some heads that Uta and I have had declared enough of them." "Well then, I guess I've got work to do. Good thing I've got Grunt. Shepard, you send the rest of my people home soon, please." "Will do, Wrex. Bakara, take care and let me know when the baby comes, eh?"

Wrex walked Cassidy and Garrus back to the truck and took them back to Urdnot camp. Cassidy and Garrus said goodbye to Grunt and went back to the Normandy. "Palaven, please, Joker." "Palaven by dinner time, Captain."

When they arrived at Palaven, EDI said "The Baton Rouge is here. Evette says hello and that they just arrived about 30 minutes ago." "Hello to Evette. I hope she and the Baton Rouge are doing well."

Cortez took Cassidy and Garrus down in the shuttle and were escorted to the ground floor of an otherwise ruined building. They went inside and were directed to a guarded door at the end of the hall. The guards opened the doors and Cassidy and Garrus walked in. Councilor Sparatus and Primarch Victus turned around. Sparatus said, "Captain Shepard, Adviser Vakarian, welcome. The Primarch, here, also just arrived. I was just bringing him up to date on our reconstruction efforts."

Victus came and shook hands with Cassidy. "Captain,we were astonished when the krogan came to our aid. We were elated on Earth when the Crucible fired and the Reapers fell over, "apparently thoroughly overloaded" was the report. Then we were relieved to get on the Baton Rouge and get to Noveria. Then the Baton Rouge was finally able to get through to here. For all these things, we have you to thank. First, I name you an honorary turian. Next you are being added to the ranks of the Heroes of the Turian Heirarchy. We will have a public ceremony once we get communications back up." "I'm honored, Primarch, Councilor."

Sparatus said, "Dinner is being prepared. Let's go sit over here." Sparatus led them over and poured drinks, with Cassidy's coming from a blue-ribboned bottle. They all sat. Sparatus continued, "Victus here tells me that the Citadel is in a sorry state from the orbital view. Apparently you have been on the station after the battle?"

Garrus answered, "Yes. The keepers focused on the Citadel tower first and then the Presidium. We were there just over 5 weeks ago and the keepers were replacing glass in the offices of the tower and removing debris from the Presidium." Cassidy said "Tevos said she was taking the Destiny Ascension back to Sur'Kesh to take Valern home and that the salarians would send a new Councilor. She then planned to head for the Citadel. She may be there even now." Sparatus said, "And who are you going to recommend this time for the human Council seat, Shepard?" "She won't thank me for it, but I think Admiral Yvonne Carter will do an excellent job. She is retired so she won't be there for long, but until we can get a Parliament going again, she can take care of business. She is pragmatic yet thoughtful and considerate."

Victus asked, "So what's next for the Normandy?" Cassidy said, "We have an asari friend to deliver to Thessia, a troop of Youth Leadership girls to take to Earth, our quarian friend to return to Rannoch, and some other friends to deliver to Illium." Sparatus said "Well now that you have opened the Widow relay, you have access to Illium and Omega. So, how did you get to the Widow relay to open it, did you scavenge some technology?" Cassidy said, "Yes, you could say that. The geth added two decks to the basement of the Normandy to house the power source from the Crucible. That enabled us to sustain FTL flight for just over 4 weeks from the Annos Basin to the Serpent Nebula." Sparatus said, "All of the Reaper corpses we have found had their power sources melted from the energy burst from the Crucible, I take it that's the case with all the ones your troops found on Earth, Victus?" "Yes, that's correct, Sparatus." said Victus. Sparatus looked at Cassidy, "So, the only functional one is in the Normandy?" "Yes, Councilor." said Cassidy. There was a silent pause, then Victus said, "4 weeks, so your dextro stores must be getting low, if you have a quarian using them as well." Garrus said, "The frozen stores are nearly gone and the dried is a little too familiar now." Victus sent a text message on his omni-tool. "Shepard, have your shuttle pilot dock with the agricultural ship, the Parnian, they will have some crates of fresh supplies for your ship." Cassidy sent a text to Cortez.

Their dinner was served. Cassidy's was two roast squab and baked perch, with garlic mashed potatoes. Sparatus said, "I hope your meal is satisfactory, Shepard. The family that lived on this estate kept a small levo farm for the birds and tanks for the fish. The vegetables are grown in pots at the farm." "Its very good, thank you." Garrus asked, "What happened to the evacuation shuttles that took the last trips from Palaven? My father and sister were on the last one, I believe." Victus said, "They were supposed to meet some agricultural ships that were orbiting a star between the systems in the Minos Wasteland. Did they return, Sparatus?" Sparatus replied, "Yes, the agricultural ships, the evacuation shuttles, and our remaining fleet returned about a week after the Digeris ships got our relay back open. Lieutenant Varian, would you look up where Garvin Vakarian was assigned? Ah, thank you. Yes, arrange a shuttle to depart in 20 minutes. They are at the Haldat estate, Garrus." "Haldat? Is that the one way out by . . ." "Yes, they have fungus farms, underground. They cut the power to the surface facilities and barricaded themselves in the farms on the lower levels, where they had emergency supplies, thanks to your efforts, Garrus. The Reapers hadn't found them out before the end, so now they are housing some of the people." Cassidy sent a text to EDI and Cortez that she and Garrus would not be returning until the morning.

They finished dinner. Sparatus shook Cassidy's hand again and said, "I expect to see you at the Citadel before too long, Spectre. There will be things that need doing." His voice was serious but his subharmonics and flanges showed amusement. Victus took her shoulders and leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. He said in her ear, "I want to thank you again for giving and sharing with me time with my son at the end. I would like to stand in the father's place for you at the family ceremony, if you will have me." Cassidy felt touched and kissed him on his cheek and quietly said, "I would like that very much, thank you." She stepped back and Victus said, "I'll be in touch." She turned and walked with Garrus out to the waiting shuttle.

"What was that all about?" asked Garrus. "He's going to stand in the father's place for me at the family ceremony." "Well, that's tantamount to him taking you on as a daughter. That's an honor." "I figured he was asking something important to him." Garrus said, "After the family ceremony then, your turian surname would then be Shepard Victus Vakarian." He put his arm around her and leaned in and kissed her. He asked, "Will you use it . . the name?" She asked, "Does the family ceremony go both ways, would the Victus family be expecting to accept you as well?"

He thought a moment, "Well, Victus has maneuvered it to be a double family ceremony. There wouldn't have been a father's place if you were coming as just an individual. Now he'll be accepting me and aligning the Victus family with the Vakarian family. Do you mind him doing that?" "Would he have been thinking that way? For humans, such a gesture would usually be just a personal one but it could be legal and formal. With turians, well, his asking me such a thing, did he assume I would know he was asking for all that, why he referenced Tarquin's final time with him?" "I'm guessing that it didn't occur to him that you wouldn't know what he was asking, because it sounds like he was deliberately asking you to formally accept him as a father, maybe Tarquin asked him as a final request. If you're uncomfortable with it, you could explain." "No, I'm happy with it. Will it cause any problems among your family?" "Victus is an honorable name, like I said, it was a high standard for Tarquin to reach, putting additional pressure on his command. Solana will make it right if any of them have objections."

Cassidy said, "So, would you use the name as well?" "Yes, Cassidy, if you will then I will." "Alright then, we will be 'Shepard Victus Vakarian' " and she kissed him. Garrus asked, "Just out of curiousity, what was Hackett's role in our civil ceremony?" "Well, he was standing in the father's place, but it was more of showing his respect for my father and representing the Alliance military family and showing some affection for me in an avuncular way. But, it was nothing formal on his part, purely personal."


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39

The shuttle parked in front of a well-lit entry to a compound of buildings. Cassidy and Garrus stepped out and Garrus asked the guard, "Garvin Vakarian, private?" The guard said, "Adviser Vakarian, sir, go through the entry, take the left side walkway to the second building. Inquire with the guard there."

They walked. It was a humid night, clear so the stars were out. There were two pairs out taking in the sky. They reached the second building and approached the guard. "Garvin Vakarian, private?" The guard opened the door for them and said, "Second floor, left side suite, sir." They went in and up. Garrus touched the chime. The door opened and Solana was there. "Father! They're here!" Solana came out and hugged Cassidy then touched foreheads with Garrus. "Come in! We've been waiting for you!"

They went in and Garvin touched foreheads with Garrus and then did the same with Cassidy. "Welcome to our temporary home, Cassidy." He led them to a table where there were four bowls of fruit, with glasses of some white wine, Cassidy's fruit in a blue bowl and a blue-ribboned wine bottle nearby. The windows were open and a soft breeze was blowing in. "So, son, tell me about the final Battle for Earth." and so the evening's conversation began.

It got late and Solana took Cassidy to a room off to the side. She said, "You and Garrus will be in here for tonight. She sat on a chest and motioned Cassidy into a chair. She reached into a drawer near her, took out a brightly wrapped package and handed it to Cassidy. "Happy Birthday! I know its late, but this is the first chance I got, so . . open it." Cassidy smiled and opened the package. "Oh how pretty! Sapphire blue satin pajamas and a matching robe and flip flops. Thank you, Solana." Cassidy got up and kissed Solana on the cheek then sat back down. "Where did you get this?" "After Mother passed, I went back on duty. We were on the Citadel on leave one day and I saw this in a shop. I didn't know when your birthday was so, I got it and had it wrapped and put it in my bag and left it there. I grabbed my bag when we had to evacuate and that's how its here." Cassidy said, "That's very sweet and its going to come in handy tonight. I didn't come down expecting to stay, since we didn't expect to find you tonight."

Solana "So, what do know about the family ceremony?" "Not a whole lot, but you should know that um, Adrien Victus is going to stand in the father's place." "Really? Wow, that adds a layer to things. Did you do an adoption bonding with them yet?" "No, he just asked this evening. He's going to arrange something later." "OK, well, you are going to need a dress. We might be able to have one custom made on Illium, because well there aren't any dress shops here on Palaven anymore and they wouldn't have ones to fit a human anyway. When do you want to do this?" "How long do you figure until your estate is repaired enough to move back?" "It will have to wait for the vital stuff but father is figuring 4 months." "Can we get all the planning done in 5 months?" "We can do that. It might be interesting getting it catered, but we'll see. Maybe Rahana Victus will help, she's the Primarch's niece."

Cassidy asked, "So, we need a trip to Illium?" "Yes." "Are you fit for duty on the Normandy?" "What? Oh, ah, Commander Solana Vakarian, Engineer 3rd class, fit for duty, Captain!" "Excellent, Commander. You may report to Chief Engineer Adams in the morning. Ok, now that's out of the way. What else do I need to do?" "You need to decide on face paint. But that can wait. Basically you'll need to get the Victus ceremony done and oh, decide about face paint for that, too." "I'll think about that." Cassidy yawned. "I'm sorry, its getting late on ship time."

Garrus came in. "Are you done with my mate, Solana?" "She's all yours, Garrus. Besides I need to go pack." "Pack for what?" Cassidy said, "She's going to be our newest engineer, meant to fill in for Tali once we get Tali back to Rannoch." "I see. Alright then, Commander, you are dismissed." said Garrus. Solana saluted and turned to Cassidy, "Facilities are out this door and across the room, middle door. Goodnight, Garrus, Cassidy."

"I'll be right back," said Cassidy and she picked picked up her gift and took it out to the restroom with her. She came back and Garrus said, "That looks lovely on you. Something from Solana?" "Yup. So, what does your father have to say?" "He says the family estate is mostly intact except there's no power and the vehicles were donated to the cause. The power probably won't get out to there for another 3 months and then he'll move back. He'll probably have his brother move in. My uncle's had it hard, lost his wife in the initial Reaper attack here, she was shopping in Cipritine when the Reapers first hit. Then Patrus was lost when the Reapers took the Citadel. He was C-Sec and would have been helping get people onto ships for the evacuation. He didn't get out before the arms closed." "Oh, Garrus, I'm sorry. Patrus jumped to my defense when Khalisa bint Sinan al-Jilani was badgering me one time, up by Bailey's office." Cassidy pulled up her omni-tool and found the picture of her and Garrus with Tali and Patrus. She looked at Patrus' face for a bit, then closed it and went to hug Garrus.

They went to bed and Garrus pulled her close and held her as they went to sleep.

She woke up and it was still dark out. She checked her omni-tool. 0700. Garrus was sitting up. She took her fatigues and went to the restroom. When she came out, Solana was waiting to go in. Cassidy went back into the room and rolled the pajamas and flip-flops up in the robe and used the robe's belt to tie it into a neat bundle.

She went out to the table where there 4 trays on the table and a turian walking out. She distributed the trays around the table, keeping the one with the blue tag attached.

Garvin came out, dressed for the day and sat at his place. "Cassidy, Garrus tells me that you are going be adopted as Adrien Victus' daughter." "Yes, sir." "May I ask what precipitated this relationship? You need not answer if it makes you uncomfortable." "He was on the Normandy as the new Primarch to negotiate for the Turian Heirarchy in the summit where the krogan demanded a cure for genophage as a condition for any help from them. Victus' son, Tarquin, was with his team pinned by Reapers. I and my team got down there and helped them clear out the Reapers, then I got Tarquin's morale up so he could get his team invested in the mission again. I and my team helped them on the mission and Tarquin took a huge risk to clear a complication in the final moments. In order to pull him clear, I had to strip his shields so I could pull him back to safety. Unfortunately just after I pulled him, an explosion went off behind and he got burned because he had no shields. We got him and the other wounded soldiers from his team back to the Normandy. Dr Chakwas took Tarquin first and did what she could, but his lungs had burned, too. I was there with Adrien when Tarquin was brought back to consciousness to say his good-byes. I don't mourn Tarquin as much as his father does, but I do mourn him. Tarquin did what he had to, to save a mission of galactic importance. And I liked him. I will be proud to count him as my brother." "Garrus said something important had occurred. Thank you for telling me. We will be proud be aligned with the Victus family."

Solana and Garrus came to the table. They ate in silence for a bit. Cassidy excused herself for a moment. She went in the other room and pulled up her omni-tool. She put in a request to Victus. It was a few moments before he came on, "What can I do for you, Captain?" "I'm formally requesting that Commander Solana Vakarian, Engineer 3rd class be transferred to the Normandy for an indefinite tour of service." "Request granted, Captain. She has an exemplary record, I'm sure she'll be an asset to the Normandy. Captain, please notify me when you have at least 48 hours leave to spend here on Palaven." "I will let you know, Primarch." "Victus, out"

She went back out to the table. "Commander, your transfer to the Normandy has been approved." She sat down to finish her breakfast. Garvin looked up at Solana then at Cassidy. "You're taking her on as crew, Cassidy?" "Yes, sir. We will be losing an engineer when Tali'Zorah goes back to Rannoch. Taking Solana on now will give Tali time to orient Solana to the job. She will be reporting to Chief Engineer Adams." "I see. I'm sure you have an ulterior motive here, Captain." Cassidy turned to her omni-tool. "Cortez, we have moved since you dropped us off. Bring the shuttle to our new location. EDI, we have a new engineer coming aboard, Commander Solana Vakarian, inform Chief Adams and place her in a vacant room on Deck 6." She stood up, picked up her bundle. Garrus and Solana stood up and Garvin got up, " 'No comment', heard loud and clear, Cassidy, I won't grill you any further, today." He came up, touched foreheads with her, then Garrus and then Solana. "Cassidy, Solana, Garrus, take care and keep in touch."

Cassidy led Garrus and Solana out of the compound and to a field beyond where the shuttle was coming in. "Cortez, this is Commander Solana Vakarian, new engineer. Solana, this is Lieutenant Steve Cortez, shuttle pilot and keeper of the armory." "Welcome, Commander Vakarian." said Cortez. They landed and EDI met the shuttle in her platform. "Captain. Adviser. Welcome Commander Vakarian, please allow me to show you around." Cassidy said, "Solana, this is EDI, our ship's AI or at least this is her mobile platform." Solana said, "Hello EDI. Adviser, Captain." Solana went off with EDI.

"Joker, Thessia next, please." When they got there, Liara rode in the shuttle with Cassidy and Samara. Liara looked out at the extent of reconstruction that had occurred so far. She was reassured by what she saw. They landed in a field just outside the capital city and Samara said her goodbyes. They headed back to the Normandy. Cassidy asked Liara, "Have you heard from Aethyta?" "Yes, just this morning, in fact. She's back on Illium. They have had some damage from Reaper beams on factories, com satellites and other things, like the Nos Astra spaceport. Apparently they just got a new com satellite up." "Any of your contacts checking in? Actually, they are trickling in. Once the planetary communication satellites go back up, I'll be in much better shape." "Heard from Feron?" "No, not yet, but I'm fairly confident he survived. He said he was going to head to somewhere the Reapers had been and gone." "Did the Reapers get to Kahje?" "No, actually the Hanar Illuminated Primacy may be the most active of the species for awhile." "I hope Thane benefited from the study he went to Kahje for." "I'll try to find out, when I can get hanar signals relayed to us."

When they got back to the ship, Cassidy said, "Joker, Earth." "Heading out, Captain." Some of the girls were playing volleyball and a spike sent the ball right at her. She caught it and tossed it back. She spotted Mrs Hughes and waved her over. "Captain, what can I do for you?" "We are going to be arriving at Earth just after lunch. However I'm not going to send your girls down today. I want to make sure that there's somebody assigned to them from the Alliance, to make sure they are dealt with appropriately and aren't taken advantage of. I know that you and Mrs Deepak will do that, but you don't know what's going on down there, nor who's who. So, once I get a liaison for them, I have that person come up here to talk to them. We'll arrange for them to go down tomorrow once housing is found and we know who's going to do what."

Mrs Hughes replied, "Yes, good plan, Captain. Well, we have two 18 year olds. Both want to join the Alliance, since that is their best assurance at housing, food, training and security. There are six 17 year olds. One of those is Kaitlyn, who's very gifted intellectually and wants to join the Alliance immediately. I told her I would sign for her if she was sure. She hasn't wavered. The other five want to finish high school, they were just starting their final semesters. There are five 16 year olds and two 15 year olds. We'll put all those through the rest of their high school training, but one of the 15 year olds, Melanie Rand, is showing emergence of biotics and she needs specialized training." "Thank you for the info. I'll see what I can do."


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Cassidy went up to the elevator. EDI said "Captain, the geth in the Sol System have just activated an FTL comm bouy. We can now communicate with Earth and the Citadel." "Thank you, EDI. See if you can get me Admiral Hackett." Cassidy headed up to her cabin. "Shepard, Tevos and Sparatus said you got the Widow relay active. Where are you now?" "We're heading back to you. Should arrive in just over 3 hours. I've got a Youth Leadership troop of 15 girls and 2 leaders. We picked them up on Beckenstein. I'll need an Alliance liaison to help get them situated, most need housing and schooling, I've got 3 wanting to sign on and 1 needs biotics training." "Jack here is working with her advanced students. I don't think adding one beginner is going to work. Why don't you hang on to the biotic girl and maybe you and Liara can work with her until you find the younger biotic students that evacuated the Citadel. They're probably wherever Hackett and the staff from the Crucible are." "I'll make that my next mission, to get to them, make them a safe path home." "Sounds good. Oh, ah Admiral now Councilor Carter said she would serve, but she said you owe her. She wants you to find her a 'hanar masseuse'. The Council wants you to check in with them. So, you probably better call Carter. I'll get you that liaison and send her up when you get here. Anderson out."

Cassidy put the com request through to Councilor Carter. "Spectre, we were hoping you would call soon. I'll get the Councilor on the line shortly. . . . . Shepard, this is Carter. We would like you to ask the geth to place a liaison here with us at the human embassy." "I will do that, Carter." "Now what are you going to do next? I am going to find Admiral Hackett and get him a safe way home. He may have a route through the Omega cluster, but if so, he's not trusting it since none of that group have shown up yet. So, at the very least I'm going to need to travel interclusteralally to the Hades Gamma and get that relay going again. But I won't be starting that for at least another day. I have some Youth Leadership girls to get situated." "Alright, we'll leave you to it then. I hope to hear about the geth soon. Carter out."

Cassidy called out "Clowder? Would you come to my cabin please." "Travel commenced, Captain." When Clowder arrived, Cassidy said, "Councilor Carter has asked to have a geth liaison available in the human embassy. Would you relay this request and inform me as to the geth response?" "Sending request . . . . Captain, would a platform with my specifications be acceptable to the Councilor?" "Yes, Clowder." "Then the geth will produce another platform to send as liaison." "What will the new platform be called?" "Gathering concensus . . . Phalanx will be its designation. To facilitate harmonious integration, you are requested to meet it and escort it to Councilor Carter, once the new person is complete. Is that acceptable to you, Captain?" "Yes, how long will it take for them to complete Phalanx?" "Phalanx will be ready tomorrow, Captain." "Thank you, Clowder, you may return to your activities." Clowder turned and walked out of the cabin.

Cassidy sent a message to Carter about Phalanx. "EDI, please ask Mrs Hughes and Mrs Deepak to meet me here in 10 minutes." She went to her messages and her inbox was flooded with message from thousands on Earth. "EDI, new filters for my mail . . . "

Mrs Hughes and Mrs Deepak arrived. Cassidy motioned them to the couch and Cassidy sat also. Cassidy said, "I have called you here because we need to discuss the arrangements for Melanie Rand. I spoke with Admiral Hackett and it seems that at this point there is no support available for budding biotics. Before the war, Melanie would have been sent to Grissom Academy. The beginner biotic students and their instructors from Grissom Academy were moved to the Citadel after Cerberus tried to kidnap all the students of the Academy. Those beginner students and instructors were then evacuated when the Reapers took the Citadel. Admiral Hackett and I think that they are with Admiral Hackett's group now."

Mrs Deepak spoke, "So, if Melanie can't get instruction on Earth, how will she get connect to Admiral Hackett's group?" "If she comes with us, we are going to find Admiral Hackett's group and as soon as we find them, I can place her as a new student in that program." Mrs Hughes said, "So what you're proposing is that we assign her guardianship to you and you will enroll her when you can. What about until you find them?" "I am a biotic, so Dr T'Soni and I can begin her training in the meantime." Hughes and Deepak looked at each other. Deepak said "I have no objection, Captain, but Melanie should be consulted now. I think she should come up here with us." Hughes nodded in agreement. "EDI, please ask Melanie Rand to come up."

It wasn't long before Melanie arrived. Cassidy had Melanie sit on the couch and Cassidy brought up a chair for herself. Callista walked onto Melanie's lap and curled up there, purring. The two leaders explained the situation to her. Melanie turned to Cassidy, "So, I would be the only teen on the ship?" "Yes, Melanie. Though I'm sure you noticed that a lot of our crew like to play the various games. You will have company outside of lessons." "And you, Captain, will be my guardian now?" "If you agree, yes." "Alright then, I agree. Do we need to do anything to make this official?" EDI said "Do you, Wendy Hughes, agree to transfer guardianship of Melanie Rand to Captain Cassidy Shepard?" "I do." said Hughes. EDI continued, "and do you, Vanna Deepak, also agree the stated transfer?" "I do." said Deepak. "Do you, Melanie Rand, agree to the stated transfer?" "I do." "Do you, Captain, agree to accept guardianship of Melanie Rand?" "I do." said Cassidy. EDI said, "I am filing this video record in Alliance archives." Cassidy said, "Mrs Hughes, Mrs Deepak, would you leave us please."

"Samesh, please send up lunch for 3. Liara, will you come up for lunch, please." Melanie asked "What is Grissom Academy like, Captain?" "You may call me Cassidy. Grissom Academy is a school for biotic kids and technologically gifted kids. It was housed in a space station in a system not far from the Sol system. The advanced students helped in the war." "What sort of work would a biotic do now, after the war?" "Advanced biotics usually become Alliance special operatives. Now that the Reapers are gone, we'll still need to deal with pirates and slavers from the Terminus systems. Stop mercenary groups that go bad, that sort of thing. You can ask Liara what the asari do with their biotics if they are not commandos."

Liara came in. Cassidy said, "Melanie, this is Dr Liara T'Soni. Liara, this is Melanie Rand, our new biotics student." Liara came up and shook Melanie's hand. Melanie asked, "Dr T'Soni, what do asari do with their biotics if they are not commandos?" "Please, call me Liara, Melanie. Well, we use biotic fields to lift things, like in construction. We learn to defend ourselves. Some asari don't do much with biotics, beyond learning basic control and how to avoid depleting yourself." Liara gave Cassidy a pointed look.

Parveen arrived, deposited their trays and left. Callista left Melanie's lap and went to the top of her tower. Cassidy said, "Biotics use your body's energy, the same energy we use to move, to think, to heal. But biotics use a lot of it. The reason Liara gave me a dirty look, was that one time I had used a lot of biotics to clear the way to blow up a Reaper base. I got burned in that mission and when we got back up here, the doctor had to remove the burned skin and start the process for regenerating that skin. Regenaration takes a lot of energy. I didn't take that into account when I accepted a ping pong challenge. I played hard and used too much energy and went over my body's limit. I fell into a hypoglycemic coma and it took days for the doc to put me right."

"Wow, how do I keep from going over my limit?" asked Melanie. Cassidy said, "Be sure to eat plenty, healthy stuff but sweets are okay in moderation and listen to us when we tell you to rest." Liara said, "We will start you with small amounts of time working with your biotics and extend the time gradually as you build up endurance. And if you're hungry, eat."

Once they finished eating, Cassidy sent Melanie back downstairs. Cassidy asked Liara, "Would you be okay with doing her initial lessons, scheduled in the afternoons? I'm going to put her in my martial arts class in the mornings." Liara said, "That's perfect. We have a standard beginner series of lessons for all young asari. I'll get her started today." "Alright then. I'll see you for breakfast then, if not before." Liara left.

Cassidy cleared the center of the room and worked through her forms until they arrived at Earth. EDI said "I have notified Admiral Hackett of our arrival. He would like you to come see him and collect the liaison for the troop." "I'm heading down. Cortez, meet me at the shuttle please."

Cassidy sat in the co-pilot seat. Cortez got them out of the Normandy and started the descent to London. Cassidy said, "Steve, I have a request, something intensely personal." "OK, Shepard, I'm listening." "Garrus and I want to start a family sometime and I've been researching things. We cannot cross our biologies, but there is IVF. So, for a human fetus, I was hoping you would be willing to contribute the sperm." "Would you tell the child that I was a biological contributor?" "That would be up to you, Steve. I want Garrus to be 'Dad' but you can be Uncle Steve if you want or we could just say the sperm was donated. Totally up to you." "You know, well, maybe you don't, but being a gay man makes you think about things like this, long before they come up. Robert and I wanted a family. We were talking about looking into surrogacy places. Then, well, he died. So, yes, I am honored that you have chosen me and I want to contribute and I want to be his or her god-father and yes, I'll babysit. Thank you for giving me this opportunity." "Thank you, Steve. Dr Chakwas will explain things to you when you're ready. And you can call me Cassidy." "London, coming up fast, Captain"

Cassidy was escorted into Admiral Anderson's office. A lieutenant inside saluted her. She saluted back. Anderson said "Shepard, this is Lieutenant Rhonda Waverly. She is a ship's counselor, got out on an escape shuttle from a destroyed dreadnought." "Captain, I will be pleased to coordinate with the leaders of this troop to get the girls what they need. We have identified a private residential school just a few blocks to the west of here that is largely untouched. There is now power to the building. We have identified several other young people that will also need schooling and there are Alliance personnel who have been teachers. Would you like to go see the school, Captain?" Cassidy glanced at Anderson, who said, "We'll get your shuttle loaded with food re-supply while you're inspecting the school, Shepard."

Cassidy went with Waverly in a truck a few blocks to the school. There were guards at the gate. She was pleasantly surprised to see that the buildings were intact but with some blown out windows. Waverly led the way inside the residential hall. The bottom floor had the dining hall and kitchens. There were some soldiers stocking the freezer in there already. Waverly took her up a floor to have a look at the rooms, which housed two students per room. They were small, barely fitting a bunk bed, two desks, a dresser and two skinny closets. There was a communal restroom with showers.

Waverly took her back down and over to the classroom building, touring the floors. Cassidy looked at a science classroom, which looked well stocked with the latest equipment. Cassidy said, "It looks like a nice set up. I'm sure the troop will do well here. Let's go tell them about it, Lieutenant." They drove out to the shuttle, where a truck was backed up to the shuttle and soldiers were moving the last crates from the truck to the shuttle.

Cassidy and Lt Waverly got in the shuttle and Cortez took them up to the Normandy. Cassidy said "EDI, ask the troop to assemble here on Deck 5." Liara's voice came on her omni-tool, "Does the troop announcment include Melanie, Cassidy? I'm working with her on Deck 3." "No, Liara, you can continue working with her."

In about ten minutes the troop was assembled. Cassidy said, "Ladies, this is Lieutenant Waverly. She is going to be your Alliance liaison. Tomorrow morning most of you will be moving into your new residential school. The rooms are doubles. There will be other students moving in also. There are a few of you that will be going to Alliance basic training. Lt Waverly will make sure that you get to the right person. Lt Waverly will be staying on board this evening to get to know each of you and to answer your questions. Lieutenant, they are all yours." and Cassidy walked over the the elevator.

She decided to go to Engineering. She walked in and saw Adams, Ken and Gabby. Adams said, "Captain, anything you need?" "Have you had time to form an impression of Commander Vakarian's skills, Adams?" "She is going to work out just fine, Captain. She has been picking up everything from Tali very quickly. They are in the tubes right now, checking things out." "Good to hear, Adams. Carry on."


	41. Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Dinner time came and Cassidy was glad to see Garrus. He came in as she was reading her messages. She looked up at him and he looked concerned, "Cassidy, you look tired." He came up behind her chair and started massaging her shoulders. She said, "Mm, that's nice. Just too many little things today." Parveen arrived with their dinner trays and they went down to the couch to eat.

Cassidy said, "I asked Steve Cortez if he would donate sperm toward a human embryo for us. He agreed and will go to Dr Chakwas when he's ready." "Wow, that's good. I like him. What's next in this process for us?" "We need to find a turian woman to donate eggs, but that won't happen anytime soon, so basically the process is going on the back burner for now. On the front burner is the fact that now I'm guardian for a 15 year old budding biotic girl. Its an odd feeling." "What have you determined about hosting a turian fetus?" "Well, if we can find a turian reproductive specialist, then Dr Chakwas can work with that person. Dr Chakwas would implant a human embryo and wait for the placenta to develop. Then the turian doctor would prep a section of the placenta to accept the turian embryo and implant it. Then the two would grow together like twins. I would have to eat appropriately for both." "So, that's the plan after our family ceremony, we find a reproductive specialist?" "Barring galactic emergencies, yes, that's the idea."

They finished dinner and Garrus pulled her close and kissed her long and deep. She smiled but pulled back, "Keep that thought on hold. I want you to meet Melanie and I want to see how her first lesson went from her point of view." They stood up and Cassidy said, "EDI, where is Melanie?" "Melanie is in the starboard lounge with Ashley, Captain." "Thanks, EDI." They went down to the lounge.

Cassidy sat next to Melanie and Garrus sat next to Ashley. Ashley said, "Shepard, Garrus. Melanie here plays a mean game of backgammon. She sometimes gets me blocked out and I don't get to throw for turns." Cassidy said, "Melanie, this is Garrus Vakarian, my husband." Melanie looked up and gave Garrus a long critical look, then she looked back at the board and blushed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean . . . uh, my granddad had some strong opinions about turians and was sympathetic to the Terra Firma party. You are the first turian I have ever met in person, Garrus. Well, my granddad was also very critical of you, too, Cassidy. He believed those reports that said you were weak-minded and betrayed the Alliance. He was obviously wrong about you, Cassidy, so I'm not inclined to believe him about turians either." Garrus said, "My father doesn't like Spectres and he was critical of her as well."

"How was your lesson with Liara today?" "I managed to pick up a tissue about 2 inches and I made a very thin barrier. It felt like it took me hours to manage that much though. I took thirds at dinner, I was so hungry." "When the troop leaves tomorrow, what do you want to do about where you sleep? I'm inclined to leave the bunks for future rescues, so I could move you to a room on Deck 6 or if you've made a friend on the crew, you could double." Melanie looked at Ashley and Ashley said, "I've already offered for her to take the second cot in my room." Melanie said, "If that's ok with you, Cassidy, I'm going to move to Ashley's room tonight." "Fine with me."

They rotated players on the backgammon board. Garrus was unfamiliar with the game, so Melanie coached him while he played against Cassidy and Ashley looked on. When it was Melanie against Ashley again, Cassidy and Garrus took their leave. They went back up to the cabin. Cassidy turned to him in the room and said, "You did hold that thought, didn't you?" He said, "Why don't you remind me?" and she drew him in and kissed him, unclipping one of his clips. Their evening progressed from there.

After breakfast the next morning, Cassidy and Melanie went to the cargo bay and said goodbye to the three girls that were headed for Alliance Basic Training. Cortez took them and Lt Waverly down in the first trip. The other girls started trickling in with their bags. Cassidy had them line up their bags and got them to play volleyball while they waited for the shuttle to return. They had finished two games and were into the third when the shuttle docked again. Lt Waverly opened the door and waved. Mrs Hughes chose six girls and they got loaded. Cortez took them down. The shuttle returned a bit faster and the rest got loaded and shuttled down.

Cassidy took Melanie up to Deck 3 and started teaching her the white belt form. They had been working on it for about 25 minutes when EDI said, "Captain, Phalanx reports that he is ready to go to the Citadel." "Joker, dock us at our usual bay, please. EDI, tell Phalanx we will meet him at the docking bay. Garrus, Ashley, Clowder, prepare to go ashore once we dock at the Citadel." Melanie said, "Can I go with you, please, Cassidy?" Cassidy replied, "OK. Go get washed up and come up to the airlock with Ashley."

Once on they docked they went into the docking bay, where a geth was standing waiting for them. Cassidy approached and it held out its hand to her and she shook it. "I am Phalanx, Captain Shepard. Cassidy introduced Garrus, Ashley and Melanie. They went to the elevators and went to the embassy level. Garrus said "Councilor Sparatus wants to see me, so I'll meet you later." He went in a different direction. Cassidy walked her group over to what used to be Udina's office. She saw a turian in a C-Sec uniform guarding what used to be Bailey's office and a human in C-Sec uniform was guarding their door. Cassidy asked Clowder and Melanie to stay outside. She took Ashley and Phalanx in. Councilor Carter was waiting for them.

"Councilor, this is Spectre Lt Commander Ashley Williams and geth liaison Phalanx." Carter shook Ashley's hand and then Phalanx' hand. Carter gave a speculative look at Ashley, "Williams, are you working with Shepard on the Normandy?" "Yes, ma'am, unless you wish me to assign me elsewhere." "Not at this time, Williams, but perhaps once the Normandy comes back with Admiral Hackett and his group." "Yes, ma'am." Carter turned to Phalanx and said, "We thank you, the geth, for getting that FTL com bouy up." "It was also in our own interest, Councilor as we wish to extend communications to the rest of the geth all the way back to Rannoch. At this point we can communicate as far as the Ontarom relay facility but there is a missing link, a relay or relays that have not been reactivated yet. We are depending on the success of Captain Shepard's mission. In the meantime we are assisting with reconstruction on Earth."

Cassidy said, "Then we ought to get going on finding Hackett and company. Councilor, Phalanx." Cassidy turned and left with Ashley on her heel. Melanie was talking to the C-Sec guard and Clowder about what was now open down on the Presidium. Cassidy got a message from Garrus that he would meet them at the elevator. They walked over there and saw Garrus approaching. They got in the elevator and went down to the Presidium. Cassidy held Garrus back and let the rest go ahead with Melanie who was playing tourist.

"Did Sparatus have much to say?" "He made me a Spectre, said he would keep me on the Normandy, but to report back to him when we finish the current mission." "Congratulations, Spectre Advisor." "Thank you, but I'm not sure what his motives are. We'll see." Melanie spotted a soup & sandwich shop, "Cassidy can we have lunch here?" "Go ahead and order, Melanie. We're coming." Cassidy asked the man running the shop, "Have you done this before?" "I used to do this in Paris. The Alliance set me up, said we needed this for the embassy and C-Sec staff. There's a bar and grill across the street as well."

They finished lunch and returned to the Normandy. Cassidy told Joker to head to Illium. She told the crew they would have 24 hours leave once they docked. Cassidy went up to the cabin and sat at the desk to check her messages. That done, she pulled up a search for Illium forums on first biotic implants in the human community there. She found an informative discussion about a doctor in Nos Astra versus another doctor in Jesle. Cassidy pulled up the site for the doctor in Nos Astra and sent a request for an appointment for Melanie. The doc's VI requested their ETA, which she sent. It came back with an appointment possibility for 2 hours after that. Cassidy confirmed. The VI replied that the typical implant appointment took 1 hour and to be sure to bring an OSD with Melanie's vital info, info from last physical and medical history. Then it asked her to choose an implant for Melanie. Cassidy chose one with the latest design, but a good safety record.

"Dr Chakwas, would you get Melanie in for a physical and interview her for a medical history? We don't have anything because the Beckenstein systems were destroyed." EDI cut in, "Shepard, the troop leaders had the girls' vital info. Mrs Deepak copied Melanie's to me when we transferred guardianship." "Good, I'm glad she remembered to do that. I've got her scheduled to get her biotic implant done on Illium tonight." "Very well, Shepard, I'll get started on that."

Cassidy turned back to her com unit and pulled up a search for custom dressmakers in Nos Astra. She was on one designer's site when a message popped up that offered her a consultation at a time of her choosing. Cassidy made the appointment for after Melanie's implant appointment. Finally, she found that rooftop restaurant that Liara had taken them to and determined that they were once again in business. She made a reservation for just after they docked.

"Garrus, Liara, Tali, Solana, Ashley, Melanie, Dr Chakwas . . . I made dinner reservations for us . . . "

Her door chime rang. It was Zaeed. "Shepard, I'm going to stay here on Illium for awhile. Thanks for the ride and it was an honor working with you." "Goodbye Zaeed. Send me a pic from wherever you retire, eh?" They shook hands. Zaeed left. Miranda was at the door. Cassidy motioned her in. "Shepard, I just came to say good-bye. I'll write from time to time, as I see you in the news." Cassidy hugged her. "Thanks for everything, Miranda." Miranda left.

They didn't actually dock the ship. They had to come down in a shuttle because Nos Astra didn't have the spaceport rebuilt quite yet. Dinner was pleasant. Melanie was quiet. "You OK, Melanie?" "I dunno. I guess I'm missing my mom. One of the last things we did was talk about was my first signs of biotics." Cassidy took Melanie's hand. "Its OK to miss her. You gonna be okay for the implant procedure? I could delay it." "No, its OK. I'll be fine."

When dinner was done, Cassidy said, "I'm going to take Melanie for her appointment. I'll meet you, Solana, at the dressmaker." Liara said, "I'd like to accompany you and Melanie, Cassidy." "OK." The others said they were going to go shopping.

Cassidy, Melanie and Liara took a cab to the doctor's office. They were a little early, but a nurse accepted Melanie's OSD and after transferring the info, she handed Cassidy the OSD back and took Melanie back to get her prepped. Cassidy and Liara went with to keep Melanie company.

After Melanie was prepped, the doctor came in an introduced himself. He looked at Shepard and said, "Are you Melanie's mother?" Cassidy said, "Her guardian." He looked back at the info and scrolled down. "Ah, I see. Captain, its a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I'm honored that you chose me to handle Melanie's first implant" and he reached over to shake her hand. He went on to explain what was going to happen and asked if they had any questions. He checked with Cassidy to confirm that the implant he had was the one she chose when she made the appointment. He said, "The asari version of this is a very popular choice among the asari families. I'm usually implanting young asari, but doing young humans is truly a pleasure."

The procedure went smoothly. He talked about how he was very careful to shave away only the most minimal amount of hair, so as not to ruin her look. When he was done, he put some medigel on the the incision, then handed Melanie a brush and a mirror. He said "Now, don't try to use your biotics for another day. Your implant needs time to integrate smoothly with your neural structure. Here's an OSD for your ship's doctor, in case of any complications." Cassidy said, "Actually doctor, please have your VI send that info to my ship." "Oh, of course. There, done." He escorted them to the door.


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter 42

EDI's voice, "Captain, Clowder is requesting assistance, a kidnapping attempt by Eclipse mercenaries, updating your nav point." Cassidy turned to Liara, "You take Melanie and meet up with Dr Chakwas." "Garrus, meet me at this nav point." Cassidy grabbed a cab and took off.

She landed and got out. It was the area with the wharf and the electronics store down the street. She heard gunfire and she ducked down behind the cab. She looked over saw the back of an Eclipse salarian engineer, taking cover behind a picnic table his back to her. She stripped his shield, warped him and shot him with her pistol. He went down. She got up, took his sniper rifle, then got behind the picnic table and scoped the scene.

Clowder had taken over the Eclipse mechs and was trying to hold off several attackers. Cassidy spotted a shot and took a commando's head off. A cab with Garrus, Tali, Solana and Ashley pulled up. Cassidy signaled them to split and go around. Ashley reached down and took the assault rifle off the salarian. The remaining Eclipse had taken cover. Clowder and the mechs he was controlling were moving slowly toward Cassidy, keeping the Eclipse heads down. Cassidy saw Tali's drone go. There was a flash of an overload on one side, then another from the other side. Then Ashley went in with the assault rifle.

Soon it was quiet again. Her omni-tool indicated that only her group were in the area. Clowder said, "The opposition has been neutralized, Captain. Thank you." Cassidy said, "You're welcome, but what were you doing down here, Clowder?" "I was traveling to the electronics store, Captain. They have some equipment that would be useful in a project I would like to construct." "Don't go around alone anymore, Clowder. You are valuable and as you can see, mercenary groups would like to get their hands on you." "Understood, Captain."

A police car had showed up and Garrus was talking to them, gesturing to Cassidy and Clowder. One of the cops came over and shook Cassidy's hand. "Its a pleasure to meet you again, Captain. I'm Detective Anaya." "Oh, right, I met you when I was recruiting Samara. Detective, this is Clowder. It is one of my crew." "Hello, Clowder. You shouldn't be going around alone. You're quite a prize." Clowder replied, "Yes, detective, Captain Shepard has explained this to me." Anaya said "I'll take care of this scene and confiscate the mechs. Enjoy the rest of your leave on Illium, Captain."

Cassidy said to Garrus, "Liara took Melanie to meet up with Dr Chakwas. Solana and I have an appointment. Would you check on them, please?" "Will do, Cassidy. I'll encourage Clowder to stick with me, as well." "Thanks."

Cassidy and Solana got in a cab and went to the dressmaker's shop. When they arrived, an elegantly dressed asari opened the door and welcomed then inside. "Captain Shepard, my mother will be with you shortly. Please enjoy some tea. Your companion is . . . ?" "This is my mate's sister, Commander Solana Vakarian." "Commander Vakarian, please make yourself comfortable while I get some tea for you." She came back a few minutes later with a steaming cup and handed it to Solana.

An older asari came out, wearing a stunning, yet demure dress. "Captain Shepard, Commander Vakarian. I'm so glad to be able to serve you. I am Matriarch Kaleera." She sat down at the table with them. "Tell me about the event for which this dress will serve you." Cassidy gestured to Solana, "Its a double family formal turian wedding. High profile." Kaleera said, "Are you allowing the press to cover this ceremony, Captain?" Cassidy said, "Yes, the civil ceremony was private, but this one will be covered." Solana added, "Besides her own status, she will be adopted as Primarch Victus' daughter and he will be in the father's place at the ceremony." Kaleera said, "So, you must be galactic hero, dutiful daughter, traditional turian bride and yet, still Cassidy Shepard. VI, pull down the screen and pull the last 10 high profile turian brides. Begin." The first on came up. Solana said "Oh, that is Javonne. She married Councilor Sparatus' son. I thought her dress was overdone."

The other 9 images went by while Kaleera listened to Solana's comments. Cassidy didn't say anything, resigning herself to being dolled up. Kaleera said, "Captain, do you have an image from you civil ceremony?" Cassidy pulled up that folder on her omni-tool and had the images transferred to the screen. Kaleera said, "How much of this choice was your mother's influence?" "Probably 70%, I would guess." said Cassidy. "Get undressed, stand on that stand over there. We need to get your measurements. Commander Vakarian, you too, take that far stand."

Kaleera's daughter scanned Cassidy then Solana. Kaleera came back out with a taupe dress with white accent striping. She helped Cassidy to put it on. Solana gasped, "Oh, Cassidy, that would be perfect for your adoption ceremony with the Victus family." Kaleera smiled and placed a gold collar on her shoulders and then put heavy gold bracelets on her wrists and a heavy gold belt around her waist. Solana said, "Spirits! That's even more perfect." "Captain, take this for your ceremony, you may return it when you come for the fitting of your wedding dress." "Thank you, Matriarch." Cassidy changed back to her fatigues, took the dress in its bag and the box and she and Solana left.

Cassidy sat in the cab and called Liara. "Liara, where is the place to get a sinfully decadent dessert? OK, you can meet us there in a few minutes? OK." Cassidy entered the address and the cab lifted off. It dropped them at a luxury hotel. Cassidy grabbed the dress and box and she and Solana went to the doors. Cassidy saw Liara, Melanie and Dr Chakwas were waiting just inside the doors. Garrus, Ashley and Clowder came out of a cab behind them, Clowder carrying a shopping bag.

They went in and were shown to a large table, passing by a large dessett buffet. Cassidy put her things on one of the chairs then went to the dessert table. She finally chose a cheesecake with caramel and chocolate sauce. Melanie chose a triple chocolate cake. Garrus and Solana came back with plates from another table. Ashley and Liara came back with a hot fruit cobbler and ice cream. Clowder stood by the wall near Cassidy's seat.

Ashley said, "So what's in the dress case?" Solana said, "Oh, you've got to see. Here I took a pic." Liara said, "Shepard, is that a Kaleera? That's not for the wedding is it? I'm mean its gorgeous, but shouldn't it be blue?" Ashley asked, "What's a Kaleera?" Clowder said, "Highly esteemed designer of clothing. Designs for high profile events." Melanie said, "Cassidy, its really so pretty. Can I come when you wear this?" Garrus looked at the picture and whispered in her ear, "Solana's right, it really does evoke Victus." Cassidy said to Liara, "Its for the adoption ceremony with the Victus family." "What do you mean 'adoption'?" "I agreed to let Victus count me as a daughter."

They all went back to the ship for the night. Up in their cabin, Cassidy attached a hook to the wall and hung the dress bag. She put the box underneath. Garrus came up behind her and took her waist, "I don't know how, but that pic of you in that dress somehow attracts me." Cassidy turned around, "So, show me how you're feeling."

He pulled her close and kissed her, burying one hand in her hair. He turned her back and undid her pants, tucking one hand under and pushing a finger up into her. "Take your top off." he said as he pumped his finger. She unhooked her tunic and wiggled it off her shoulders and off. He said "I want to bite you again." "OK" He pulled her tight and covered the previous scar and bit down, his finger deep inside her. "Oh Garrus!" she exclaimed. He held her that way for awhile. Then he released her and undressed himself while she finished undressing.

He guided her to a wide chair and had her kneel on it with her back to him. He grabbed her waist and pushed his cock inside her and stroked again and again, harder and harder until he came and she cried out. He lifted her over to the bed and laid down behind her. He stroked his fingers over her breasts, fiddling with her nipples, then brought a hand down and rubbed her clit with his finger, arousing her again. He leaned in and licked the back of her ear. She moaned. He reached down and guided his cock back into her, pulled her tight and bit her shoulder again.

He held the bite while he pumped up into her over and over. He released the bite and reached down and gently squeezed her breast, his other hand on her belly. He came again. He held her close as their heart rates slowed.

He kissed her arm and reached over to grab a tissue and a medi-gel. He cleaned up her shoulder. "Only the first one is supposed to show." he said. "Oh. I wondered." she said, exhausted. They went to sleep.

Cassidy was awakened by Dr Chakwas voice. "Cassidy? Cassidy?" "What do you need, Karin?" "Its Melanie, she's having trouble with her grief and she wants to talk to you. You should come down here." "Hang on, I'm coming." Cassidy got up and pulled on a set of sweats. She went down to the med-bay.

Melanie was in a chair, tears streaking down her face. Dr Chakwas said, "She was manic with Ashley, so Ashley brought her to me. I gave her a low dose relaxant." Cassidy said, "Its awfully bright in here. I know a good place to go and talk. Come on." She took Melanie's hand, grabbed Chakwas' box of tissues and led Melanie out. She led Melanie down to the space under Engineering. They sat cross legged on the big krogan sized cot down there.

Melanie said, "Cassidy, you still have your mom, right? Rear Admiral Hannah Shepard?" "I think so. We'll find out when we find Admiral Hackett's group, I hope." "So, why are you letting a turian adopt you?" "My dad was killed by batarians. I still miss him and love him. Adrien Victus and I developed a bond over his son, Tarquin. I think Tarquin wanted us to comfort each other so he encouraged his dad to adopt me. I will still have my mom, but then I will have the Victus family, too." "So, if I wanted to be adopted, could I do that?" "Are you asking me to adopt you?" "Would that be OK, if I could be a daughter to you, and to Garrus, too, rather than just your ward?" "Honey, I would be thrilled to do that for you, but my very wise granddad said to me that important decisions should not be made in the midst of extreme emotions, be they grief or anger or joy or passion. If you still want to when you're emotionally sober, then we'll make arrangements." Cassidy got up and sat behind Melanie and hugged her. "Tell me about your mom and dad." Melanie started talking and kept talking until she started nodding off. Cassidy lifted her up and carried her up down to Ashley's room, then went back up back to bed. Garrus pulled her close and held her. They slept.

The next morning, over breakfast, Cassidy told Garrus about Melanie's request. Garrus said that if Melanie still wanted to, he would agree also.

Cassidy, Garrus and Melanie went back down to Illium. She looked up a theater supplies company. She went inside and found the white face paint, and asked Garrus to show her the proper shade of blue. He picked a shade slightly darker and more dusky than sapphire blue. Melanie showed her the sponges with the different width faces to put on different thicknesses of lines. She looked around and found the dry dyes in white and blue as well. She also picked up a jar of removal cream.

She contacted Samesh and had him order what he needed for another interclusteral jump. Then she looked on the net for a general clothing store. "Melanie, I'm taking you to get some clothes, since I figure you don't have much left over from the caving trip, eh?" "Yea, what I have is pretty worn out." Cassidy got her 10 changes of everyday clothes, some sleep wear, some sweats and something dressy.

When the leave was over, Joker pulled out of Illium's orbit and headed for the mass relay.

They jumped to the Omega relay then to the Kepler Verge. EDI said, "The com relays on Ontarom are going strong. The Attican Beta relay is inactive. The Sentry Omega system links only to the Attican Beta, so if Admiral Hackett's group is at Virmire, then we should only need to activate one relay to get to them." "ETA for interclusteral jump to Attican Beta?" Joker said, "Two weeks, 6 days, 14 hours, Captain." "Begin jump." "Jumping to Attican Beta now."

The crew went back to playing games. Samantha, Parveen and Cassidy taught Melanie to play bridge. Cassidy taught the martial arts class in the mornings. Parveen helped Melanie catch up. Melanie had biotics lessons with Liara in the afternoons. Cassidy and Garrus invited Melanie to have dinner with them each evening.

One day as Cassidy was touring engineering, Gabby said, "Captain, could we have a moment of your time please?" "Sure, what's up, Gabby?" "We would like to do our wedding this Sunday." "OK, do you know what sort of ceremony you want?" "I'm fairly sure, but I'm going to consult with EDI and get you a script like what Brynne did." "Alright, then you arrange with Samesh about the cake and reception. OK?"

After having dinner with Cassidy and Garrus for several evenings, Melanie said, "OK, I think I'm emotionally sober enough now. I still want to do the adoption, if you are still willing?" She looked from Cassidy to Garrus and back. Cassidy asked, "Do you want to make a ceremony of it, or just have EDI witness our legal binding?" "I think let's just do it here and now?" Cassidy had the three of them take hands in a circle. "Alright, EDI. Let's do it." EDI said, "Melanie Jade Rand, do you wish to become the adopted daughter to Cassidy Shepard and Garrus Vakarian?" "I do." "Do you, Cassidy Shepard and Garrus Vakarian accept Melanie as your adopted daughter and willingly take on the rights and responsibilities as her parents?" "I do" said Cassidy. "I do" said Garrus. EDI said, "I will record this video in Alliance records as an established adoption. Congratulations to all three of you." They stood up and did a group hug. Cassidy kissed Melanie on her cheek. EDI said, "Melanie, how do you want your full name to read now?" "Melanie Jade Rand Shepard Vakarian" said Melanie.

They all went downstairs to play some celebratory ping pong.


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Sunday came. Cassidy waited by the elevator as everybody came up to sit in the chairs lined up between med-bay and Liara's office. Finally it was Jacob and Ken, Samantha and Gabby. EDI started playing bagpipe music. Cassidy walked down the aisle to stand at the center on the stairs. Jacob came in and then Ken, wearing his Alliance dress jacket but with a green and blue sash and matching kilt, white knees socks with the tartan pieces at the cuff. Then came Samantha and finally Gabby in a white off the shoulder satin fully skirted dress with a lace train. When she got to the front the bagpipe music changed to play "Highland Wedding".

"Before these gathered witnesses, we are here to join this man and this woman in civil union. Do you, Kenneth Sean Donnelly take Gabriella May Daniels into your clan to be your spouse?" "I do" said Ken. "Do you, Gabriella May Daniels take Kenneth Sean Donnelly to be your spouse and to accept his clan as yours?" "I do"

"Do you, Ken have a token of this union to give?" Ken said, "I take you Gabby, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, from this day forward, so long as we both shall live." Jacob gave him a ring and Ken placed the ring on Gabby's finger.

"Gabby, do you have a token of this union to give?" Gabby said, "I take you, Ken, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, from this day forward, so long as we both shall live." Samantha gave her a ring and Gabby placed the ring on Ken's finger.

Then Ken took the top sash of the two he was wearing and draped it over Gabby's shoulder. Cassidy said "Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the galaxy's latest married couple, Ken and Gabby. Ken you may kiss your bride." As Ken took Gabby and kissed her, Samantha and Jacob emptied bags of confetti over them. Cassidy said "Lunch and cake on Deck 6." EDI started the bagpipe music again and people started filing out as Ken and Gabby turned back to Cassidy to get their certificates signed.

Down on Deck 6, Melanie asked Cassidy, "Can I see your wedding pictures, please?" Cassidy pulled them up on her omni-tool. Solana came and put a piece of cake in front of Cassidy and one in front of Melanie and had a red-plated one for herself. Solana said, "You didn't celebrate your 1st anniversary, did you?" Cassidy said, "I think it happened just before the Battle for Earth, so since we were constantly fighting Reaper troops, I didn't notice the date many days." Solana saw Patrus in the pics and said, "Patrus was a bit of a stick in the mud, but I liked him." "Aunt Solana, where was your father, why wasn't he there?" "My mother was very sick and she needed to be looked after all the time. So my father stayed while I hopped on a ship to get to the Citadel in time." Garrus came and sat down with his cake. "Solana dragged me into a jewelry store to buy a ring, but I didn't know why. She said, 'Its in all the vids, humans exchange rings.' The jeweler backed her up." Solana said, "I watched vids of human weddings all through the journey from Palaven to the Citadel."

They had square dancing in the cargo bay that evening.

Two more weeks passed playing games, doing martial arts and Melanie doing biotic exercises under Liara's patient tutelage.

Cassidy was up behind Joker as they arrived in the Attican Beta cluster. The relay either didn't lose all the pieces to its rings, or some of them had returned like comets and been recaptured. Repair took 5 days. When they were out toward Feros way, they jumped over there. No signals came from Feros. Cassidy hoped that Shiala and Liz and everybody had gotten out.

Cassidy was again up behind Joker as EDI triggered relay activation. EDI said "Sentry Omega is active, Captain. I am getting Alliance signals!" "Jump us over there, Joker." "Jumping . . ."

Cassidy said, "This is the Normandy, Captain Cassidy Shepard. Please respond." "Normandy, this is the dreadnought Phillipines, getting Admiral Hackett, one moment please . . . Shepard, you're a sight for sore eyes! Come dock with us, I want to see you!" "Joker, . . " "Moving to dock with the Phillipines, Captain."

Cassidy went across and there was Hannah. Cassidy ran up and they hugged. Hackett came up, Cassidy straightened up and saluted, Hackett saluted and said, "At ease." "If I may ask first, where is Brynn Cole stationed? The Phillipines VI said "Dr Brynn Cole Taylor and daughter are on board the Africa." "Excuse me please a moment, Admiral. Jacob, Cortez get the shuttle over to the Africa. Jacob take your stuff, that's where Brynn is." Hackett said, "Why don't you give your crew a few hours leave over here. I'll give you some time with Hannah then you and I need to debrief." Hackett walked off.

"Crew, you have 6 hours leave aboard the Phillipines. Garrus, Melanie, Solana, please stay in the cabin til I get there." Cassidy and Hannah stood to the side as a group came off the Normandy. Cassidy led Hannah back onto the Normandy. "We rescued a Youth Leadership troop of girls, nearly all of them are on Earth now, but one of them is a budding biotic so we took her on. Garrus and I adopted her. Her name is Melanie Jade Rand Shepard Vakarian and she's 15 years old." "I have a granddaughter? How lovely!"

They got up to the cabin. Cassidy said, "Melanie, this is my mother Hannah Shepard" Hannah opened her arms and Melanie came up and accepted the hug. "Please call me Grandma Hannah, if you're comfortable with that." "That's what I've been practicing in my head, Grandma Hannah." Hannah went and hugged Garrus and then Solana.

Hannah said, "Melanie, Cassidy tells me you are a budding biotic. Have you been having lessons on board?" and the conversation was off. Cassidy excused herself and went to meet with Admiral Hackett on the Phillipines.

"Shepard, come in. I have been speaking with Admiral Anderson now that you have cleared our communication and travel block. I plan to bring the group I have here back to the Charon Relay to reorganize what we have left. I would rather go through the Hades Gamma relay but I understand that is not active. How long would it take you to clear and reactivate that relay?" Cassidy said "EDI? What would be the travel time from Attican Beta to Hades Gamma?" EDI said, "Captain, travel time would be 3 weeks 1 day 6 hours."

Hackett said, "I didn't ask Anderson because it wasn't a secure communication, but how is it that you are jumping interclusterally now?" "The geth added two decks to the Normandy, put the power source you took out of that Cerberus base into the bottom deck and reforged Reaper armor to cover it all." "So the geth have been helping a lot?" "Yes, they seem to want to help." "There were no Reapers in this cluster when we jumped back here. Did any of their power sources survive?" "Not that I know of. All of the Reaper corpses on Earth, Tuchanka, Palaven and Thessia had their power sources fried."

"Well, I think we can use the three weeks to pack up and button up. We've spread out a bit on Virmire, taking leave down there. But we don't have enough ships to stay here and protect anything. If you need some re-supply, I'll telling the ag ship Iowa to accept your requisitions." "We'll head over to the Iowa once our crew get's their time on the Phillipines, sir" "Let me show you around then, Shepard." and Hackett led her out of the room.

They toured the fighter bays, largely devoid of fighters. Then they went to the exercise area. They had several sparring squares laid out on the floor, weight lifting equipment in one corner, a running track around the outside, a climbing wall, and a lap pool in the center. On another deck they had a movie theatre, card / game tables, a couple racquetball courts, volleyball nets, there was a space where a group was following a dancersize routine on video.

Cassidy asked Hackett, "Did the younger biotic students get evacuated from the Citadel?" "Fortunately, yes, they and their instructors were able to get out and they did a small FTL jump just outside the system. When the Reaper signals ceased, they jumped back and went out the mass relay, eventually ending up here with us." "Is Kahlee Sanders here, too.?" "Yes, in fact, she is stationed on this ship. Would you like to see her?" "Please, its a personal issue. Garrus and I have adopted a 15 yr old girl, just new in her biotics. I want to get her into the program, when Grissom Academy is in a place to accept new students. There's no immediate need, as Liara is giving her the introductory lessons." Hackett said, "VI, where is Administrator Sanders?" " Administrator Kahlee Sanders is in her quarters, Admiral." "Sanders, Captain Shepard is aboard, asking to see you. Would you meet her in the mess hall?" "I'll be right there, Admiral." said Kahlee.

Hackett led Cassidy to the mess hall. Kahlee was waiting. Hackett took his leave and Cassidy shook hands with Kahlee. "Captain, I'm so glad to see you. What can I do for you?" "Are you going to re-establish the Grissom Academy?" "Yes, as soon as we can. I know that there are young biotics out there in need of our program." "I have one of those youngsters. My newly adopted daughter, Melanie, is 15 years old. Liara is doing her introductory training and can keep that up for some time, until you get ready for a new class." "I will let you know as soon as we are ready and let me get her name here, " "I am copying her vitals file to you." "Alright, yes, there we are. Melanie Jade Rand Shepard Vakarian, native of Beckenstein. I look forward to meeting her."

"Speak of the devil," said Cassidy as Hannah, Garrus, Solana and Melanie appeared. Cassidy waved them over. "Garrus, you remember Kahlee Sanders." Garrus and Kahlee shook hands. "Kahlee, this is our daughter, Melanie. Melanie, Administrator Sanders is the administrator of the Grissom Academy." "Nice to meet you, Administrator." said Melanie as she shook Kahlee's hand. "I understand that you are going to become one of our cadets, when we are ready to take on new cadets." "Yes, Admiral. I am training under Dr Liara T'Soni until then." "Then I am certain you will be well prepared when you arrive."

The shutters on the buffet line opened for lunch. Hannah said, "Shall we eat?" Melanie led the way. Hannah held Cassidy back while everyone else went forward. "Tell me about Adrien Victus." said Hannah. Cassidy told Hannah the whole story. "... so I'll be gaining a father, and a cousin, and he'll be gaining a daughter, and son-in-law, and granddaughter, though he doesn't know that yet." Hannah, "I look forward to meeting this pragmatic, respected turian father-figure of yours." "You just might knock his socks off, Mom." teased Cassidy.

"On a different topic, Cassidy. What is your next mission?" "We're going to go reactivate the Hades Gamma relay." "How long will it take you to get there if you can't go by relay?" "A little over three weeks." "May I join you? I'd like to spend that time with you all, but particularly Melanie. She has such a small amount of childhood left. I'll take leave for this and not muck with your chain of command." "OK, you can tell Admiral Hackett that you've got a green light from me. There are empty rooms on Deck 6."

After lunch, Cassidy went to her cabin to get her swim gear. She went to swim laps while the others were going to play volleyball. When she had done about an hour's worth, she pulled up and saw Garrus sitting by the edge of the pool, watching her. "Hey, what's up?" "Turians can swim, but we're not at all graceful about it. Not like you. Its a pleasant thing to watch you in the water, Cassidy. I didn't know you like to swim." "Last time I swam, I was interrupted to go check into Dr Bryson's murder and you know where that led." "Yes, it led to some of the most anxiety ridden hours of my life. I never want to see you in a diving mech ever again, deal?" "Deal" Cassidy pulled herself out of the pool. Garrus handed her a towel and waited for her while she went to the locker room.

Cassidy came out with her bag and asked, "What are Melanie and Hannah doing?" "Melanie wanted to climb the wall." Garrus pointed over to the climbing wall where Melanie was slowly inching her way up. Solana was next to her on the wall. Cassidy came and sat next to Garrus on a bench. He straddled the bench and pulled her close. She turned and sat cross-legged and leaned back on him. "What's on your mind?" asked Garrus. "I'm thinking that there are a lot of bits and pieces of families out there. I'm hoping that those people can open their hearts and make patchwork families – a piece of this one, stitched to that one, and so on. Maybe I'll take up quilt-making."

"What's a quilt?" asked Garrus. Cassidy pulled up her omni-tool and pulled up a childhood pic of hers with the quilt her grandmother Nancy had passed down to her from Nancy's grandmother Bertha. "Its like I said, lots of pieces sewn together to make a blanket top, placed over padding and backed with more fabric, then the layers were stitched together, often in fanciful patterns. That stitching together of the layers is called quilting. In the old days, the poor people, they made quilts from old dresses and other cast-off clothing to use or give as gifts. Some women did their stitching by hand in groups, known as a quilting bee. Some women tied their quilts together with pieces of yarn. Later quilting became popular and most quilts were made of designer fabrics as art pieces and quilted on computer-controlled quilting machines."

"Who's mother was Nancy?" "My dad's mother." "Where's that quilt now?" "Gone down with the first Normandy." "Sorry." and he squeezed her a little tighter. "Thanks. Yes, I'm going to make a quilt for Melanie, or Melanie's children, depending on how long it takes me to get one done." "It looks like they're done." Cassidy and Garrus got up and walked to meet them.

As everyone was coming back on board Normandy, Tali was coming off with her bags. "Cassidy, I am going to join Admiral Xen and others. We are going to go in one of the cruisers back to Rannoch. When I have settled into my new home, I hope you and Garrus will come to visit." Cassidy hugged Tali and Tali shook Garrus' hand. Then Tali left the Normandy.

Hannah and Hackett approached. Hannah saluted Hackett and Hackett saluted back. Hannah said, "Permission to come aboard, Captain?" Cassidy replied, "Permission granted, Rear Admiral" Hackett said, "I'll talk to you once you've got that relay active, Shepard." "Yes, sir. Talk to you then." Cassidy hit the button to close the door.

They stopped at the Iowa to pick up some supplies. Then they headed out. Cassidy stood behind Joker and said, "Take us to Hades Gamma." "Cranking up the FTL, Captain."


	44. Chapter 44

Chapter 44

The crew went back to their interclustal routines. Hannah joined Cassidy's martial arts class as a refresher. During the second week, she tested them on yellow belt and began orange belt. On some afternoons, Hannah would join Cassidy, Solana and Parveen for bridge. Hannah played ping pong, cribbage, and backgammon with Melanie on some evenings. EDI asked Diana to direct a production of Brigadoon and many of the crew were in rehearsal every morning until they performed the night before arrival.

Cassidy was behind Joker as they came into the Hades Gamma cluster. EDI said there were no signals in the cluster. Cassidy set them to the repair of the relay. It took them 7 days as they checked each of the five systems, but the Reapers had been thorough here and nothing was left but debris.

The rings were in place and fused back together. EDI reactivated the relay. Once the rings were up to speed, EDI said, "Voyager, Artemis Tau and Gemini Sigma relays are all inactive. Notifying Admiral Hackett of mission completion." Hackett's voice came on, "Congratulations, Captain. The main circle around the galaxy is intact. Give your crew a week at the destination of your choice. Report back to Earth after that." "Aye, aye, Admiral."

Cassidy told Joker to take them to Palaven. Cassidy went to the cabin and sent a com request to Primarch Victus. His adjutant said to expect a return call at least an hour from then. She checked her messages. She had one from Matriarch Kaleera, asking for her and Solana to return for a fitting session. She replied saying she would be back to Illium in four days.

She decided to work through her forms while she waited for Victus' return call. She was into brown belt when EDI announced Victus' call. "Primarch, thank you for returning my call." "Good to see you, Captain. What prompts this call?" "You asked me to call when I had at least 48 hours leave. I'm bringing the Normandy to Palaven for three days." "Excellent! I will begin the process for our public ceremony and then there will be another day for the adoption ceremony." "Speaking of the adoption ceremony, I should inform you that I have adopted a teenage daughter, Melanie, and my mother, Rear Admiral Hannah Shepard is on board." "A granddaughter? Wonderful! I will inform Rahana, since she is planning the ceremony. I look forward to seeing you and meeting your mother and Melanie when you arrive. You all are welcome to stay at our home.. Palaven out."

When they arrived on Palaven, Garrus and Solana went off to go stay with Garvin. Cassidy took Hannah and Melanie to the car waiting for them and they were taken to a newly constructed building, parking in a secure lot beneath. They were escorted to an elevator and were taken down to the Victus private residence floors.

Inside they were greeted by Adrien Victus. Cassidy said, "Primarch, this is my mother, Rear Admiral Hannah Shepard and my daughter, Melanie." Adrien shook each of their hands. "Rear Admiral, Captain, Melanie, this is my niece, Lieutenant Rahana Victus." Rahana shook hands also. They were shown to their rooms. Cassidy was impressed, the furniture in her room was apparently new but was constructed to look as if it had been handed down over generations. A young private knocked and brought in her bags. She hung her formal uniform bag and the dress bag. She dropped her duffel bag and dress box on the floor below those. She went back out to the living room.

Snacks were on the table and Rahana was watching a news broadcast. She turned it off and said, "Captain. A small part of Cipritine is functional now, if not yet restored. Our family estate was obliterated. That won't be reconstructed for some years, I'm afraid." "Call me Cassidy, please. We are to be cousins." "Thank you, Cassidy. Yes, it is a bittersweet thing, to be getting new cousins and yet still mourning family lost." "That is a feeling Melanie and I share."

Melanie and Hannah came out and started on their plates of fruit. Cassidy found a picture frame on a table and asked Rahana to tell them about all the people in the pics. Rahana motioned into another room where there was a screen and comfortable chairs. She had the pictures put on the screen and talked about Tarquin and his mother, her father and mother, and older generations. Adrien came in quietly and stood in the back as Rahana spoke. When Rahana had finished with the last picture, she asked if Cassidy had pictures. So Cassidy put her pictures on the screen and talked about her grandparents, her aunt and uncle and two cousins and her dad. When Cassidy was done, she encouraged Melanie to do hers. Melanie talked about her mom and dad, her brother, his girlfriend, their dog, her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins and friends.

Dinner was announced. Adrien held Hannah's chair for her and once she was seated he sat next to her. Melanie was seated between Cassidy and Rahana. Talk turned to the First Contact War / Relay 314 Incident and Adrien and Hannah each talked about what ships they had been on. Cassidy talked about missions against batarian slavers. Rahana talked about her logistical duties, getting supplies onto ships. Melanie listened attentively. Cassidy said "Melanie, I know your mom and dad weren't military. What did they do?" "My dad was a lighting designer for theater production. My mother was a stage manager. Sometimes, Evan and I got to help with props and costumes." Talk turned to the different theater productions each of them had attended.

After dinner, Adrien invited them all to take a ride on a ship that was going to do aerial surveys of the continent. As they passed over the different regions, Adrien described to them what had been there and where reconstruction was for that area. He pointed to a dark area and said that was where their family estate used to be and would be again someday.

When they got back, Melanie was yawning. Cassidy and Hannah walked her to her room and then went to bed themselves. Cassidy tossed and turned, missing Garrus. She eventually slept and faded into a dream.

She was back in the diving mech, looking up at the huge Leviathan. She heard a knocking on the window. She turned her head and saw a rachni soldier. She opened a space in the window and the rachni handed her a krogan action figure. She closed the opening and looked at the action figure. A voice came out of the figure, "Their song is fading. Your songs are much too quick. Generations of asari will pass before they will sing no more. They will sing as they have always sung."

The next day was busy. After breakfast, Cassidy dressed in her formal uniform and went out to say goodbye to Hannah, Melanie and Rahana, who were going to get in place at an upper tier overlooking the stage. The Primarch came out and escorted her to an elevator up and onto a transport. The were driven to a enclosed arena and inside. When Cassidy got out, she saw Garrus waiting for them. They went out onto the stage and took their seats.

There were parades, memorial speeches, presentations of banners for lost regiments, platoons, companies, lost ships. Finally, the Primarch made a speech about the accomplishments of the Normandy, her captain and her crew. He honored Garrus for his unflagging support of Shepard over the years, when the turians had closed their ears. He named Cassidy a Hero of the Turian Heirarchy. A judicial person said only turians could be so honored. Sparatus got up and named her an honorary turian. The judge asked which family would sponsor her as a turian. The Primarch said, "She will be a daughter to Victus and married into Vakarian." The judge put a medal around her neck.

There were fireworks that went off inside the arena. Cassidy saw Diana Allers recording. The Primarch escorted Cassidy and Garrus off the stage and over to a back door. They went in to a hall filled with tables, and they went to the elevated table. Hundreds filed in and they had a celebratory lunch. Cassidy saw Solana, Hannah, Melanie and Rahana at one of the tables just below them.

After lunch there was a reception where it felt to Cassidy like every single turian officer on Palaven was introduced and saluted her. The one she recognized was General Corinthus.

Finally, Solana came and took Garrus. Hannah, Melanie and Rahana joined them for the trip back to their rooms. They had a quiet dinner and afterward they played a turian strategy table game. Cassidy pleaded exhaustion and went to her room after the game. She got on her omni-tool and messaged Garrus, "Missing you." "Missing you more" he wrote back.

The next day, the ceremony wasn't until late afternoon. Adrien went in to work for most of the day. The rest of them played the strategy game in different pairings to pass the time. While they played, Rahana told them how the ceremony would go. Cassidy passed a bag with the white face paint and one of the sponges to Rahana. Finally Rahana said, "Its time for us to get dressed."

When Cassidy finally got all the accoutrements on over the dress, she went out. Hannah said, "Oh darling, you look absolutely stunning." Melanie said, "Cassidy, that's so, wow." Adrien's flanges went slack and his gaze went from Cassidy over to Hannah, picking up the facial resemblance.

They went out to the elevator and were driven to the arena, to the room behind. The tables were there and people were filing in. Rahana whispered that the people coming in first were all distant relations, anybody that could claim a connection to the Victus line. After that, high ranking officers and their families were invited. Cassidy saw a turian reporter next to Diana Allers.

Rahana got up first and proclaimed her respect for Cassidy and expressed approval for the adoption on behalf of the rest of the Victus family. Then Adrien got up. He talked about how she had inspired Tarquin to revitalize his demoralized platoon, how she had brought her team to get them out alive from the Reaper attack. He talked about how she had served the platoon by helping them complete their mission, and how she had served the family by rescuing Tarquin, and sharing Tarquin's last moments with both father and son. He motioned her forward and she came up. He took her shoulders and put his forehead to hers.

He straightened up and said, "Cassidy, as you were a true sister to my son, I take you as my daughter and will strive to guide you and protect you with honor and responsibility to our family and our people." Cassidy replied, "Adrien Victus, I accept you as my father and will strive to do my duty to learn from you and support you with honor and responsibility to our family and our people." Rahana came up and sponged the white face paint onto Cassidy's face in the Victus pattern.

Cassidy stepped around to stand by Adrien as he said, "Melanie, as you are my daughter's daughter, so now I accept you as granddaughter." Melanie came forward and Rahana painted Melanie's face as well. Adrien guided them all to stand so that Cassidy and Melanie were between him and Rahana. "I declare for all to know, here stands my daughter, Cassidy Florence Shepard Victus." There were applause and pictures. Then dinner was served.

After dinner, there was again a reception line and Rahana named everyone that came up to welcome Cassidy. They got through all the distant relations. The officers came again, this time with their wives or children. At the end of the line was Garvin Vakarian with Solana and Garrus. Garrus whispered in her ear, "The picture had nothing on the real thing." Cassidy smiled.

Garrus went back with Garvin and Solana. Cassidy, Hannah, Melanie, and Rahana followed Adrien out and back to their rooms. When they got back, Cassidy went to Hannah and handed her the makeup remover. "Offer to take Melanie's face paint off if she wants. If she leaves it on overnight, it will stain. Her choice." Cassidy went to change. After she came out, she found Rahana and asked Rahana to come have a chat in her room.

"Garrus and I have had a civil union for well over a year and we have been researching options for children. I'm hoping that you would be willing to provide the female genetic material for us to produce a turian child." Rahana stopped and looked at Cassidy. "I'm so happy you asked me. What this means is that your turian children will be genetically Victus as well. Uncle Adrien will be ecstatic. What do I need to do?" "Find a reproductive specialist you are comfortable with and have him or her harvest some eggs, then freeze them for you and specify that they are for me and Garrus." "I will do that, I will call right now and make the appointment." As so Rahana did.

Cassidy left her face paint on and slept carefully propped so she wouldn't smear it. In the morning she carefully removed any excess paint that had not soaked in, and was left with a ghostly white remainder of the Victus pattern.


	45. Chapter 45

Chapter 45

At breakfast, she noticed that Melanie had removed her face paint. They had breakfast with Adrien and Rahana and then packed up and went back to the shuttle. Garrus and Solana met them there. Cortez took them all back to the Normandy. There were a few hours yet before the shore leave on Palaven was up. Garrus helped Cassidy with her bags up to their cabin. He said, "We took on dextro provisions while we were down there. We should be good for 6 weeks or so." When she had put everything away, he took her shoulders and kissed her slow and deep. They're subsequent lovemaking was slow and passionate.

Garrus ran a finger across her pattern on her face. "How long will this last?" he asked. "I will need to renew it every few weeks if I don't want it to fade completely away." "How is it that I got so lucky, instead of Kaidan?" he asked. "Kaidan creeped me out. When I was polite, he took it as a romantic overture. He didn't want to take no for an answer, because he was reading yes into my behavior. Besides, I fell for you early on." He replied, "Hmm. I wasn't letting myself admit that I had fallen for you, not until I thought that I had lost you forever." She said, "Well, here I am, exactly where I want to be."

The next stop was Illium. She gave the crew 4 days leave there.

Cassidy took Solana,Hannah and Melanie to Matriarch Kaleera's for the appointment. Kaleera's daughter welcomed them, took the dress bag and box, and invited them to sit. She came back out with a tea tray and served them.

Kaleera came out, looking splendidly comfortable. She smiled at Melanie and shook Hannah's hand. "Rear Admiral, it is a pleasure to have you here. Melanie, congratulations." She pulled up a news image from the adoption ceremony. "You came across very well, Captain. I got some very nice reviews. Melanie, would you undress and go stand there. Admiral, you on that other stand." The VI got them measured and imaged. Kaleera sent Solana to go get undressed.

When Solana came out, Kaleera and her daughter brought out a table and a dress rack. She put some boots down and Solana put them on. They pulled a silver long-sleeve under-dress over Solana's head and clipped it up her back. Cassidy thought it was pretty on its own, with silver lace inserts, and a faintly darker silver pattern swirling in the fabric itself. Then they brought a dusky dark blue robe with a hood lined in the silver, in a translucent silky fabric. They put it over her head and then belted it at the waist with a wide worked silver belt. Once the belt was secure, the beaded cutouts in the robe highlighted the lace inserts of the under-dress perfectly. They put a silver worked collar around her shoulders.

By this time, Melanie and Hannah had returned to their seats with Cassidy. Melanie said. "Wow, Aunt Solana." Kaleera had Solana walk back and forth, then returned her to the stand to get everything off. She sent Cassidy to get undressed. When she came out and got on the stand, they gave her lacy white tights to put on. Then they fitted a lacy white bustier to her and tied it securely. Then long white lace evening gloves. Over that came a silky taupe robe, with hood lined in white lace and with beaded cut-outs. An elaborately embroidered belt went over that and a matching collar went over her shoulders. Kaleera sent her to walk back and forth.

Then Kaleera pulled out a very long swath of the translucent blue and looped it. She called Solana over and showed Solana where to hold it so the loop stayed and then had Solana put it over Cassidy's head so that it outlined the collar. She showed Solana how to hook the drape to the loops on the shoulders of the robe. Kaleera sent Cassidy to walk once more before they took it all off her.

Solana said to Hannah, "The mens' eyes will be glued to her the whole time. I don't know how they'll be able to say their lines." Hannah replied, "Its not risque to turians is it?" Solana said, "Oh, no, its something about the way the robe almost conceals her. I've never seen anything quite so proper and yet so specifically seductive to turians." Cassidy came back out in her fatigues. She said, "That was like wearing the Navy Formal Uniform, only heavier."

Kaleera came out to verify the ceremony's date, 13 weeks in the future. She said that they should come back no later than 10 weeks out to do the fittings for Melanie and the Admiral.

They went out to the cab and went to meet Garrus, Liara, Ashley and Dr Chakwas for dinner.

Over the next few days, they went to a musical, toured an art museum, visited an animal rescue habitat, took a cruise around the bay, and did some shopping.

On their last afternoon, Cassidy got a message from Aria, asking her to meet Bray on the trade floor. She took Garrus with her. Bray said, "Captain. You might have been wondering about the Kite's Nest mass relay. They've apparently got an FTL com bouy going because they got a message out, to me, from Governor Pazness. They need assistance, one of the ring fragments went into the sun. The relay is asking for these chemical reactants, but they don't have the resources for this one. They want help, but it still wouldn't be wise for you to show your face down there, Captain. So, if I could come along, could you get enough of the reactant and get us there?" Cassidy said, "I'll take you with me to Earth, Bray, and put this to Admiral Hackett. I'm fairly certain he'll agree. We're taking off in two hours." "Yes, Captain."

Once they arrived at Earth, Cortez took Cassidy, Garrus and Bray over to the Phillipines. They were escorted to Admiral Hackett's office. Bray explained his request. Hackett listened and when Bray finished he said, "Advisor Vakarian, would you show our guest to the mess hall, I believe they still have the dessert buffet open." Garrus and Bray left. Cassidy turned back to Hackett, "How far do you trust Bray, Captain?" She replied, "I think he's right, Admiral, that they won't accept me. If we go, I plan to send Lieutenant Commander Williams and Lieutenant Vega with Bray. Neither of them were with me when we went to Aratoht." "I'd rather the meeting take place via com, Captain. I wouldn't put it past them to try to take our representatives hostage." "Understood, Admiral."

There was a knock at the door, then Hannah and Ashley entered. Hackett said, "At ease. Rear Admiral, I'm recalling you to duty. You will be the voice of the Alliance to the Batarians. Lieutenant Commander, you will be the face of the Alliance. The Captain will transport you and the reactant they have requested to their cluster. Captain, under no circumstances are you or any of the crew of the Normandy to leave the ship while in that cluster. I will leave it your discretion, Captain as to how and when to leave the cluster. How long will it take to make that trip?"

Cassidy said, "EDI, estimated travel time to The Kite's Nest?" "1 week, 6 days, 3 hours from the Sol cluster, Captain." Hackett said, "Captain, I am directing the Iowa to provision you for 6 weeks. Have your galley manager send them his requisition list. Do not send any communications back here through their FTL comm. I am asking the geth to meet you at Nonuel to mine and refine the reactant for you."

Hackett dismissed them and Cassidy recalled Garrus and Bray to the Normandy. Cassidy called Clowder to the bridge. "Joker, dock with the Iowa. Samesh, give your requisitions for 6 weeks to EDI. Joker when the resupply is complete . . . " Cassidy turned to Clowder. "How long can we expect for the mining and refining on Nonuel to take, Clowder?" "There is a ship from Rannoch jumping there now, Captain. Estimated time to complete refinement of the requested amount will be approximately 36 hours, Captain." "Joker, when the resupply is complete, put us over Nonuel."

Cassidy went to get some herbal tea. Garrus came out of the elevator and got something to drink also, then sat across from her. "I don't think the Blood Pack or the Blue Suns would bother a geth ship, but I want to be there to put a shot across their bow if they want to test the waters." "Probably wise. I don't know how much of either force is left but if a scout saw a geth ship alone, they might be able to field enough reinforcements to take it on." "The geth would also be able to jump in reinforcements, but I don't want it to get that far."

The elevator opened and soldiers began wheeling in crates of provisions. Samesh, Raja and Parveen came with them. Samesh directed where the crates were to go and Raja and Parveen started opening the first crate to pack away the contents.

Cassidy went over to Samesh, "Could you use more hands, Samesh?" "Yes, Captain, I could use three more people. More than that would get in the way." Cassidy walked over to the crew quarters and looked inside, "Copeland, Henderson, Gatlin, report to Mr Bahtia at the galley." She got three "Aye,aye, Captain" responses and she got out of the way for them to get out of the room.

She and Garrus went up to the cargo bay and watched the remainder of the crates get wheeled aboard. A lieutenant came over and asked if she would sign for the re-supply. She directed him down to Mr Bahtia. Empty crates were starting to be wheeled out.

When the re-supply was finished, she and Garrus went to lounge where they found Hannah playing backgammon with Melanie. When they finished the game, Melanie asked if they could play bridge. Cassidy pulled out the cards and spread the deck. Cassidy and Melanie drew the low cards so they were partners against Hannah and Garrus.

They completed one game and were bidding on the third hand when Joker's voice came on Cassidy's omni-tool, "ETA to Nonuel, five minutes, Captain." Cassidy put down her cards, and said, "I'm heading to the bridge. Why don't you call Solana or Parveen and see if she'll take my spot." Melanie asked Solana and Solana accepted. Cassidy headed back up to the bridge.

She stood behind Joker. He said, "Your Victus pattern there is a little freaky, Shepard. I get flashbacks of Nihlus being there. Don't worry, I'll get used to it." EDI said, "The geth report no other ships in the Plutus system, though they did register a ship heading toward the Cacus system." "They may be scouting. Let me know if they come this way." Joker set them on an orbit of a moon above Nonuel. "I'm calling it a night." Cassidy walked back down to the lounge where the bridge game was still in progress. Solana started to get up, but Cassidy motioned her back down. "I'm heading upstairs." Cassidy said. Garrus said, "I'll head up after we finish trouncing these two." Melanie said, "Yea, right. Who was it that scored a slam last hand, huh?" Cassidy smiled and left.

Cassidy was just pulling the covers over herself when Garrus came in. He said, "Hannah and I never did recover from Melanie's slam." He got ready then climbed in and pulled her close. "If we weren't half expecting a confrontation, I would ravish you." "Mmm, ah well. Another time." and she closed her eyes and went to sleep.


	46. Chapter 46

Chapter 46

She awoke at her normal time with Callista laying on her legs, purring, Garrus in the shower. "EDI, any updates on the ship that was headed to Cacus system last night?" "They headed to Farinata just over 2 hours ago, Captain. They will need to return directly to the mass relay from Farinata or risk running out of fuel." "Any updates from the geth?" "There is another ship here now. They are constructing a fuel refinery on Veyaria." Cassidy displaced Callista and got up to get ready for the day.

Bray was there to observe her martial arts class. Cassidy invited him to join and he said he would just observe this class, then maybe. At lunch he came and sat next to Garrus, across from Cassidy. He didn't say much beyond answering direct questions from Cassidy or Garrus. In the afternoon, Cassidy challenged him to ping pong. He picked it up pretty quickly and gave Cassidy a bit of a workout for two games. He asked to observe a bridge game. So Cassidy pulled in Solana, Hannah and Parveen for a game. At dinner, he sat with Javik and James. That evening he played poker with Garrus, James and Hendricks, with Clowder serving as the dealer.

Cassidy was playing volleyball with Melanie, Ashley serving across the net from her with Solana, when EDI said, "Captain, the ship we have been tracking is heading this way. ETA 2 hours." "Go black, reduce internal power use." The lights in the cargo bay dimmed. Ashley said, "Still want to play?" "Sure, go ahead and serve."

When the ETA was down to 30 min, Cassidy went up to the bridge, meeting Clowder there. "Captain, I have been asked to communicate with the unknown vessel. My communication will be routed through the ship above the mining operation." "OK, what does their ship design indicate?" EDI said, "The ship is typical of a long range scouting mercenary vessel, often used by Blood Pack, but also by independents as well." Clowder said, "Approaching vessel, we are geth. Please identify yourself." EDI said, "The ship is veering to a direct route to the mass relay." Cassidy said, "We'll stay black until they go through the relay."

Cassidy went up to the cabin. She decided to do forms, starting at purple. She was doing 5th degree black when Garrus came in. He watched her until she finished the form. "How long do you want to stay alert?" "Until that ship leaves the cluster, which should be . . ." "The ship has jumped through the relay, Captain." "Go white."

Garrus said, "So, can I ravish you now?" Cassidy came and placed her hands on his chest plate, "I am yours, my captor." He undid the clips of her tunic, pushed it off her. He reached behind and undid her bra and pulled that off as well. He walked her back to the bed and laid her back. He reached into the bedside drawer and pulled out the length of silk and tied her wrists together then tied them to the bed post. He undid the laces of her boots and took them off, then the socks.

He crawled on the bed and cupped a breast, playing with her nipple, while he kissed her, twining his tongue with hers. He moved a hand to between her legs, over the pants. He applied pressure there while he licked her nipples. He licked down her belly to her belly button. He undid her waistband and pushed her clothing down onto her hips. He reached into the drawer and took out a new bottle, squeezing some onto his finger then onto her belly below, then onto her clit. She felt heat from the lotion and when he applied his tongue, she moaned.

He got up and removed his clothing. He pulled her clothing down and off. He pushed her knees up and licked again at her clit while he pushed a finger inside, stroking her. He turned her on her side and got behind her. He pushed her up so she could relax her shoulders. He stroked her clit and nipped lightly at her shoulder. She relaxed her shoulders more. He put the tip of his cock just inside, then gripped her tightly. He bit down and pushed himself in deep, at once. She cried out. He held the bite while he rocked up and down inside her. He release the bite to breathe more deeply as he stroked.

He moved him and her so that he was between her legs. He re-entered her and grabbed her waist and pushed her bit by bit toward the headboard. She pushed against the bed post to keep her head from bumping it. He pushed hard a few more times, then came, as did she shortly after. He reached up and pulled the end of the tie, releasing her hands. He reached for the medi-gel and turned her so he could treat the bite. He turned her onto her back and gazed at her white patterned face. She brought her hands to his head and pulled him down into a lingering kiss.

She rolled off and went to the shower. He watched her, as mesmerized now by her as much as he ever had been.

In the morning, Cassidy was having breakfast with Liara. Liara said, "Melanie is progressing well. Her barriers are getting stronger and she can reliably lift and hold a 100 kilogram mass for 10 seconds. Her endurance is getting better as well. I would like to have people begin throwing soft projectiles at her at random times to get her to improve her reaction times to bring her barriers up quickly." Cassidy thought about it for a moment, "We could make some bean bags and distribute them. Maybe just three and whoever throws one passes it to someone else, so she doesn't know who has them." Liara replied, "Sounds good. I'll collect the bean bags each day when she starts getting too tired." Cassidy said, "I need to supervise the loading of the material in a couple hours, so why don't you see if Hannah will help." "I will."

Cassidy went down to teach her martial arts class. Bray joined them and she had Hannah teach white belt to him while she was working with the others.

At the end of class, Clowder contacted her, "Captain, the geth have laid down a landing strip for the Normandy to come down to be loaded." Cassidy went to the bridge and watched as Joker landed them neatly onto the strip. The geth then took to loading small crates into the nooks and crannies of the cargo bay, around the mess hall, lining the hallways and stacked up in the open space on Deck 3. By the time they were done, there wasn't anywhere on Decks 3, 5 and 6 that she couldn't see the crates everywhere. Each small crate was very heavy and they seemed to be distributed evenly across the ship, side to side.

Cassidy thanked the geth as they left the ship with their dollies and carts. She returned to the bridge. "Alright, Joker, lets lift off." "Boy its a good thing we have that power source, otherwise there would be no lifting off with all this material. Its making the Normandy a little back heavy, compensating. There we go." And out of the window she watched as they rose through the atmosphere into space.

They were entering the relay system. EDI said, "Multiple ships entering at the mass relay. They are broadcasting signals similar to the scout that was here earlier." "Go black. Yellow alert. Jump behind the gas giant." Cassidy ran to the galaxy map and zoomed in to the system. Once they were behind the planet, she continued, "Clowder send a signal back to the geth ships in the Plutus system. Ask them to stay where they are. Alright Joker, let's peek over this planet and see what's coming." A group of 35 ships of various size started coasting through the system. Cassidy said, "Joker, ready to jump in-system." She waited until the group had advanced inside Hunidor's orbit. "Jump between them and the relay, now." She waited while the map showed their updated position. She waited another moment, "EDI do their comms show any awareness of us?" "They show no awareness, Captain." "Clowder send a tight beam signal through the relay to your forces. Ask them to send enough to ensure victory in a possible battle but not to fire. The goal is to scare them back out of the cluster." "Signal sent, Captain. ETA 5 minutes." "Joker, move us away from the relay."

Five minutes later, groups of geth ships began to arrive. Clowder said, "I will communicate, relaying from the lead geth ship." "Unknown vessels, we are geth. We come to defend our ships in this cluster. If you reverse course, we will allow you to leave intact." As more geth ships continued to arrive (they were up to 16, coming 4 at a time), the mercenary group came to a halt. Cassidy said, "Clowder, have your ships move off, leaving a clear lane back to the relay." Another 8 geth ships had arrived and moved off with the others.

The smaller mercenary ships turned and began moving toward the relay. EDI said, "The leaders are not able to keep their group together. They are arguing, promising punishments." A few more minutes passed and all the mercenary ships were returning to the relay. Clowder said, "This group of ships will remain here until the fuel refinery and station and FTL comm bouys are complete."

Cassidy watched the galaxy map until all the mercenary ships had jumped. She waited another 5 minutes then said, "Joker, jump us to the Charon relay. Once we're there, EDI, send a report of this incident to Admiral Hackett. Then get us going to The Kite's Nest."

Cassidy went down to find Liara. Liara was down at the armory with Hannah working with the omni-gel converter. Liara said, "I think we have it this time, Cassidy. The pellets are rounded now, so no sharp edges. The fabric is a sturdy cellulose polymer. Just a moment, let me seal this edge." Liara held up a small bean bag about 6 cm square. Liara tossed it to Cassidy. Cassidy threw it high in the air and then let it fall on her. "That's good. Make two more? Are you going to use them in your lesson with her today?" "Yes, in fact I'd like your assistance today." "Alright, I'll join you two this afternoon." Hannah said, "May I watch the lesson today?" Cassidy looked at Liara, "I don't mind, Hannah."

When lesson time came, Liara said, "Melanie, today we are going to add a new goal to your training. You know how to put up a personal barrier. We still have the goals of making it stronger and last longer. But now, we want your reaction time to get your barrier up to get faster and faster, until it comes up unconsciously when a threat is registered." Liara pulled a pistol and shot one blank at Cassidy, at which Cassidy reactively rolled out of the way and her barrier was up and a ball of blue energy was swirling in her hand. Cassidy concentrated and let it fade away.

Liara said "You won't be expected to try to dodge and prep a counter just yet, so the 'threat' we're starting with are these bean bag 'grenades'. The idea is that when you see one, you put your barrier up. If it hits you before you see it, your barrier comes up. It doesn't matter if you are here with me or anywhere else during the day. It won't be a constant barrage since we don't want to exhaust you, but there is no out-of-bounds time. So, . . ." and Liara threw the bean bag at Melanie. Melanie watched it hit her then blinked then put her barrier up. Liara said, "That's a beginning. Here, Cassidy, you can pass these out. Melanie toss that one to Cassidy please." and Liara handed Cassidy the other two bean bags. Cassidy caught the one Melanie tossed, then left them to their lesson.

Cassidy went to the main battery and gave one of the bean bags to Garrus and explained what they were for. He said, "I'm not sure how turian biotic training goes, but this seems, um, soft? But I guess Jack will end up doing the hard training at Grissom, so this is just prep. I will have to think about when to ambush her." She left him staring at the bean bag in his hand.

She went to Dr Chakwas and handed her a bean bag and the spiel. After Dr Chakwas agreed, Cassidy decided to hang on to the third one and make a decision whether or not to use it based on how the other two shots went.

Dr Chakwas was sitting eating dinner at one of the small tables when Melanie got up to go get some more water. Dr Chakwas tossed the bean bag over her shoulder to land in the walkway ahead of Melanie. Melanie startled and jumped back, but her barrier was up quickly. Cassidy said, "Better than the first time, eh? Toss that here."

Cassidy, Hannah, Solana and Melanie started a bridge game. Garrus came in to watch. They were in the second game when Garrus pulled a beanbag out and tossed it on the table. Melanie caught sight of it in his hand out of the corner of her eye and had her barrier up before it hit the table. Cassidy took the bean bag off the table. Garrus ruffled Melanie's hair and said, "Nicely done." Melanie smiled and they continued the game.


	47. Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Four days later, at breakfast, Liara said that Melanie's reaction time and attentiveness were improving nicely. Cassidy asked what objects had her instructor used. "Oh, we had these squishy balls that were used to learn to juggle. Juggling was in fashion at the time, so my instructor used the balls. Did your instructor do something similar?" "We started with a marshmallow gun. Basically a bit of plastic pipe with a simple air compression system to shoot the little marshmallows out. That didn't last long though, after a few days he replaced the marshmallows with large plastic pellets. Those left a bruise if you let them get through." "I don't want to advance her to bruising things quite yet. But if you could come up with a marshmallow gun, I could use that." "I'll see what we can do."

It was a weekend day, so there was no martial arts class. Cassidy asked "EDI where is Melanie?" "Melanie is in the starboard observation lounge, Shepard." Cassidy headed there. When the door opened Cassidy saw that Melanie whipped her head around to check if she had a bean bag. When no bag appeared, Melanie turned her head back to stare out at the emptiness. Cassidy sat on the bench behind her and asked, "What's up?" Melanie said, "I guess I'm missing everything. My mom and dad, Evan, our dog Jupiter, the smell of the wind, our house, mom's cooking, my bed, our cranky neighbor, the costumes at the theater, school, everything. Even Megan, the snotty queen-bee-wanna-be of the troop." "Missing people and things lost to us can be hard to deal with. EDI, would you go into my cabin and get the sketch pad and colored pencils out of the bottom drawer of the bureau by the couch and bring them to us, please." "I'm pleased to be able to help, Shepard."

Cassidy and Melanie sat silently. EDI came in and handed the sketch pad and pencils to Cassidy. "Thank you, EDI." "You are welcome, Shepard." EDI left. Cassidy moved to sit next to Melanie. She opened the sketch book and showed her the first drawing. "I had a scrapbook that I left in a storage locker on the Citadel. That part of the Citadel got blown away at the Battle for Earth. So, on Illium, I picked up this sketch pad and pencils. That's why this first drawing is of a book. Its my scrapbook. This next one is of the watch my dad wore. Nobody else wore watches but he said he liked it better for telling time and timing pulses than pulling up his omni-tool. This is a drawing of the quilt my grandmother handed down to me. I have a picture of the quilt, but making the drawing helped me to remember what the quilt felt like in my hands and how it smelled, like the floral perfume my grandmother used to wear. This one is the classroom on Arcturus Station where I took my first class there.

I'm going to leave this with you here and you can draw if you want and you can take the pages out and put them where you want to. I'm going to go up and read for awhile. You can bring the pad back up to me when you're done with it or keep it for the rest of the trip if you want." "OK." said Melanie.

Cassidy went out, and Callista ran in. Cassidy turned back, "EDI, put up a 'Do Not Disturb' notice on this door, until Melanie leaves." The DND symbol appeared over the door button. Cassidy went up to the cabin and pulled out her Foundation book.

Garrus appeared after a few chapters. "Hey, about ready for lunch?" "Wow, it is that time already?" Cassidy got up and put the book on the table and asked "EDI, where is Melanie?" "Melanie is still in the starboard lounge, Shepard." "Melanie, are you coming to lunch?" "Huh? Oh, ah, yea, I'll be right down, Cassidy." Garrus asked, "What's up with her?" "She's dealing with homesickness and grief. I let her have the lounge and my drawing materials." "Do you want us to lay off on the barrier reaction practice?" "No, everything should continue as normal, but speaking of the reaction practice, maybe you could help with the next stage . . ."

On their way down to lunch, Cassidy described the marshmallow gun idea to Garrus. He said he would come up with something.

The remaining travel time was taken up with air-powered gel balls, and all the usual games.

Arrival time was just 10 min out. Cassidy stood behind Joker. "Go black. I want to have a look at the system before they know we're here." EDI said, "Captain, they have an FTL com bouy up, though it seems low-power. They must have sent their message to Omega on one high-powered burst."

They took their time and looked at each of the formerly inhabited planets and moons. The found a small force of ships around Khar'shan, but nothing farther out. Cassidy said, "Joker, tuck us behind a big asteroid and hang out. Admiral, we need to talk." "Certainly, Captain, you may meet me in the starboard lounge."

Cassidy got to the lounge first and she stared at the shuttered window. Hannah came in shortly after. "What news?" asked Hannah. "What remnant of their fleet that survived seem to be on planetary defense patrols around Khar'shan." said Cassidy. "What would be your suggestion?" "I'd like to dump all the containers inside the mass relay, send a message as to where the containers are, and head out of here." "That doesn't leave opportunity for communication." "Exactly, they won't know where we are when we have our cargo deck open and they won't be tempted to try something foolish."

"What if we drop the containers on this asteroid. Then we can send a message that we are willing to talk and see what develops from there." Cassidy nodded and said, "Joker, land us on this asteroid. Cortez, get a crew organized to get those crates off the ship on onto the asteroid we are landing on."

It took them over two hours to get all the crates off the ship. Cassidy watched from the cargo bay. When the last crate was off and all the crew, dollies, carts and the forklift were back, Cassidy told Joker to head to the edge of the system near where they had entered. Cassidy said, "Admiral, this show is now yours." Hannah said, "Lieutenant Commander Williams and Bray to the starboard lounge." Cassidy headed back to the bridge.

EDI said "Message going out to the FTL com bouy." Bray's voice came on, "This is Bray from Omega. In response to a message from Governor Pazness. Please respond." There was nothing for over 20 minutes. EDI said, "15 ships have jumped from the planet out to the com bouy." A batarian voice came on, "Bray, show your ship." Bray said, "I have engaged assistance from the Systems Alliance. The geth mined and refined your requested material. The Alliance transported it here. You can pick it up at these coordinates."

Cassidy said, "Joker, jump us behind Spekilas."

When they emerged, EDI said, "The batarian ships have appeared at our previous position, Admiral, Captain." The batarian voice again, "Show your ship, Alliance." Ashley's voice, "This is Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams of the Alliance. We would speak with Governor Pazness." Cassidy said, "Jump, that Verush moon."

EDI said "Only one of their ships has jumped to Spekilas, Admiral, Captain. Another ship is at the asteroid where we dropped the material. I suspect they are trying to conserve fuel."

Pazness' voice came on, "Lieutenant Commander Williams, our thanks. I apologize for the rude welcome but civilized conduct between our peoples is still under development. I understand your reticence and I thank you for avoiding a need to fire upon our ships. I hope you understand when I suggest you leave immediately, it is to further that goal of avoiding a need for shots to be fired." Ashley said, "We hope to receive an ambassador at the Citadel once you finish reactivating your mass relay. Alliance out." Hannah said, "Captain, please set us on our return journey now." Cassidy said, "Jump us beyond the nearest out-system star for heat dump, Joker. Then head us home."

They were not done dumping heat when EDI said, "One batarian ship, appearing on long range sensors, heading on intercept course." Cassidy asked, "How long until we can button up?" "We can pause the sink dump at any time, Captain, but will need to resume to finish before we go black again." "Button up. Garrus prep the main gun. Admiral, we have a batarian visitor. Joker, let's dance."

"This is Lieutenant Commander Williams of the Alliance to the approaching batarian ship. Please identify yourselves." "Williams. Hand over Shepard and we won't broadcast your position to the entire fleet." Ashley said, "We jumped in to you, we are jumping out again. You would run out of fuel far far from any fueling station trying to chase us." The batarian ship appeared and fired on the Normandy.

"Shields down to 95% percent, Captain." Hannah said, "Captain, take down their shields." Cassidy said, "Garrus, you heard the Admiral." The Normandy's main gun fired at a grazing angle, the beam appearing violet.

EDI said, "Their shields are down, Admiral." Ashley's voice came on, "I suggest you run back to to Khar'shan, while you can." EDI said they are powering up their gun for another shot. Joker said, "Evasive maneuvers."

The batarian ship shot and missed. Cassidy said, "Jump toward home, Joker. Let them follow us if they are foolish enough to." The Normandy jumped, but the batarians didn't. EDI said, "20 minutes to get beyond the next star, Captain." Cassidy said, "After 30 minutes, finish the dump. Then let's get going on home."

Cassidy went down to the starboard lounge. Hannah was there, but Ashley and Bray had left. Hannah said, "I think that ship was testing our capabilities. It probably had a drone ready to return to Khar'shan in case the ship was destroyed." Cassidy said, "I agree. I suspect the Governor is going to have a hard time reigning in his extremists." Hannah sighed, "They can't afford to be too extremist if they want the salarians to help with saving their species." Cassidy said, "I'm sure it will make Citadel Council meetings more interesting. I wonder if they will finish their repairs in time to get to the Citadel before we do. Did you notice that a large piece of their rings was missing? I wonder if it went into the star? If so, I wonder how long the forging process will take?"

EDI said, "I pulled their mass relay's repair info when we were there, Captain. It is true that the missing piece did indeed go into the star and was destroyed. The repair info doesn't specify time lengths, just asks for the material we dropped off. Presumably other steps will be made clear once the material is supplied to the relay."

Cassidy went up to the cabin. Dinner had been just before arrival, but Cassidy was hungry. Garrus was there, reading something on his omni-tool. "Want to go down to the galley with me? I want to find something to eat." "Alright, then a game of ping pong afterward." "Sounds good." They went down. Cassidy found some bean dip in the refrigerator and some chips in the pantry. Samesh came out and said, "Oh, Captain, please, let me prepare nachos for you two." Cassidy relinquished the chips and dip to him. About 5 minutes later he came out with two plates and put them in front of Cassidy and Garrus.

Garrus said, "It was a joy to fire off that gun." Cassidy said, "I wasn't too surprised when they came after us." Garrus replied, "I'm sure they'll have some complaints ready when they get out of their system again. Maybe even insist that they need slaves because of their insufficient population." "They won't get any 'endangered species' sympathy if they go back to slavery. I hope they realize that." They finished their snacks and went down to the cargo bay.

Ashley was playing against James when Cassidy and Garrus arrived. Melanie was watching, as was Parveen. Gabby was on the other side watching with Samantha. Cassidy saw Samantha nudge Gabby and Gabby gave Samantha a shake of her head. Samantha shrugged her shoulders. Garrus suggested to Cassidy that they to play some one-on-one volleyball.

Garrus was up 6 – 5, when Melanie and Parveen came to join in. Melanie went to Garrus' side and Parveen to Cassidy's. Just after Cassidy spiked one just out of Garrus' reach, Parveen motioned Cassidy to the back of their court. Parveen said, "Captain, you should speak to Gabby privately. She hasn't found her courage yet to initiate the contact." Cassidy said, "Message received. Thank you." They finished the game. Garrus and Melanie won 23-21.

Cassidy saw that Ashley and James were done. Samantha got up to play but Gabby declined. Cassidy said, "Garrus, why don't you play?" Melanie followed Ashley out and James and Parveen sat one side to observe. Cassidy said to Gabby, "You want to get some hot chocolate with me?" Gabby nodded and they went to the elevator.

Cassidy and Gabby got their hot chocolates and sat at one of the smaller tables. Gabby stirred hers for a bit and then quietly said, "Ken and I are going to be parents." "Are you telling me officially here?" Gabby sighed, "I don't know your feelings about things like this. But Doc says I'm just past my first trimester, going on 14 weeks here soon. I want to keep doing my job until I can't. After that well, Ken and I haven't discussed that far yet. He's still saying it doesn't feel real yet, but I'm getting beyond the stretch of my uniform here soon." "Well, let's make this official. I firmly believe you should continue doing your job until you can't. We can discuss options once we're back in the Sol system. Sound okay to you?" "Yes, Captain, that sounds great, thank you."

Cassidy stayed with Gabby to finish their drinks. She texted Garrus to say she would meet him upstairs later. They took their empty mugs to the dish return rack. Gabby took the elevator down. Cassidy asked "EDI, where is Doctor Chakwas?" "Dr Chakwas is in the starboard lounge, Captain." "Thank you, EDI." Cassidy took the elevator to deck 3 and went to the the starboard lounge.

Dr Chakwas was sitting back, reading. Adams was playing backgammon with Clowder. Cassidy said, "Its good that you both are here, Dr, Lieutenant. Clowder, would you leave the room for 3 minutes, please. Then you may return to your game with Adams." "Captain, I will return in 3 minutes." and Clowder left. Cassidy said, "Engineer Gabriella Daniels Donnely has officially announced her pregnancy." Dr Chakwas said, "Good. I encouraged her to do that weeks ago, but she was reluctant." Adams said, "I wish she had said something earlier, I would have kept her off any proximity to eezo sources." "Is there a danger, Adams?" "Not officially, Captain, but there isn't really much study of such things and I like to err on the side of caution." "Well, let her do all she feels comfortable doing, Adams. Alliance regs leaves the decisions and risks up to the mother and her doctor." "Understood, Captain." said Adams.

Cassidy was upstairs, re-reading Alliance personnel policies when Garrus came in. "Everything OK with Gabby?" "She and Ken are going to be parents in about 6 months." "Well, well. So, that makes Wrex, Jacob and now Ken & Gabby." He came up and pulled her into a hug, "When it comes our turn, its hard to think about that actually happening yet."

He bent his head and kissed her, sliding his hand to her hip and hitching her up. He walked over to the bed and sat so she was straddling his lap. She reached up and undid her top, letting it slide off her arms onto the floor. She reached and undid his clips to his top. He reached into her bra on one side and lifted her breast out of the cup. He played with the nipple with his fingers while he held her and kissed her, letting his tongue linger with hers. He reached back and undid her bra, she pulled it off.

He pushed her back, encouraging her to stand. He ran his tongue over each nipple and lightly nipped them. She got her boots and socks off, then undid her waistband. He pulled her clothing down and she stepped out. He went to his knees and licked her clit, holding on to her waist. She stroked under his crest and he moaned.

She pulled him up and undid the rest of his clips. He pulled off the rest of his clothing. She pushed him to sit again on the bed. She straddled his lap. He reached under and put one of his fingers inside her, stroking. She pushed him to lay back and she moved up and over his cock. She eased herself down, taking him in slowly at first, then in one hard push upward he entered her. She rocked back and forth on him, as he pushed up in short hard thrusts.

He rolled them over, and pushed faster, harder, more, until she cried out and he came. He laid down next to her and pulled her close as their hearts slowed back down bit by bit.

The crew settled back into their routines for interclusteral travel. Cassidy noticed Gabby wearing a relaxed version of the uniform by the time of their arrival.


	48. Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Cassidy was in her accustomed place behind Joker as their arrival time approached. EDI said "Captain, we are being hailed, patching the signal to audio . . ." "Normandy, this is Sol System approach control. What is your intended destination?" "Where is Admiral Hackett, approach control?" "Admiral Hackett is on the Citadel, Captain Shepard. Do you wish to be transferred to Citadel approach contol?" "Yes, we will head for the Citadel."

Once they were docked with the Citadel, Cassidy, Hannah, and Ashley all received requests to a meeting in Councilor Carter's office. The crew was asked to remain aboard. Cassidy waited for Hannah and Ashley at the airlock. Garrus came off the elevator and came up, "Councilor Sparatus has requested me." Cassidy nodded as the elevator opened again and Hannah, Ashley and Liara came. They all disembarked and got on the elevator to the embassy sector.

In Councilor Carter's office, Admirals Hackett and Anderson were there, as well as Phalanx. Cassidy, Hannah and Ashley came in and Carter said, "At ease, everyone. Please grab whatever you would like at the sideboard and join us here at the table." Cassidy saw sandwich ingredients so she made a roast beef and swiss cheese on rye sandwich, a small salad, and grabbed a lemonade.

Carter began, "There are several things to update everyone here on, so here we go . . . first, the batarians have sent a delegation to ask for compassionate assistance in stabilizing their population. The salarians are willing to study the problem. Both parties insist on neutral ground, so the work will be conducted here on the Citadel, under the supervision of the asari. The turians will do the transportation of batarian citizens between Khar'shan and the Citadel. We have agreed to keep our noses out, on the condition that the batarians agree to abolish their practice of slavery and the batarian representative has so agreed."

Hannah asked, "What happens if a 'rogue' batarian ship conducts a slave raid?" Anderson replied, "The Hegemony has agreed that any such ships are to be considered independent pirates. They want to keep as much genetic diversity as they possibly can, so any batarian dead are to be returned here for genetic storage for the salarian team." Cassidy said, "Understood."

Carter said, "Second, the krogan are to get a former colony planet of theirs if they hold themselves to an agreed upon population growth rate. The Urdnot female clan were the negotiators. We are to provide observers on Tuchanka to verify their census data. If all goes well, they will be allowed to build a small space force to protect both planets, and the program will set new goals, including gaining a Citadel embassy. The salarians are completely skeptical, but they have agreed to keep their noses out as long as the krogan walk their talk."

Carter went on, "The rachni have requested to place a representative in the asari embassy, much like we have done with the geth. As you, Hannah, were in charge of the operations of the Crucible, what is your opinion on that score?" Hannah said, "The rachni were very industrious and helpful. The queen communicated through asari agents, and so I think such an arrangement should work well to start." Carter turned to Cassidy, "And you, Cassidy, do you have any opinion?" Cassidy said, "I believe the queen is honorable so yes, we definitely should include them."

Carter turned to her datapad, "The geth have been putting an asari ship back together. Once they finish with that, they will build a new carrier with a full complement of fighters for us out of the debris from the battle. It will take 7 weeks or more, they tell us. Once construction is complete, Hannah, we'd like you to take command of her. We're going to name it the 'Selk'nam'. Selk'nam will be the flagship of a new First Fleet, to be based at the Arcturus relay, until then you are on leave. Which brings me to you, Cassidy. We want you to go open up the Arcturus relay. Once you do that, the Normandy can take a well deserved 8 weeks leave. And finally, Ashley, we're assigning you back here on the Citadel."

Hackett spoke up, "Grissom Academy is re-opening on the Philippines, until the Arcturus Station is rebuilt. Administrator Kahlee Sanders says the new classes are beginning in a week"

Cassidy said, "Then, I'll need to make a quick trip to Illium and back with my daughter before we jump to Arcturus." Carter said, "That's fine, just let us know when you're ready to leave. If there's nothing else, I have a meeting with Councilor Tevos to get to."

The meeting broke up and Cassidy stopped out in the hallway. Ashley said "I'll walk back with you to the ship to collect my things and to say good-by to Melanie." Cassidy said, "I just need a minute or so." She brought up her omni-tool to send a message to Kaleera. Then she contacted Bray, "Bray, there is a salarian team looking into re-establishing the genetic viability of the batarians. You could go see if they could use you, if you're interested." Bray replied, "Thank you for letting me know, Captain. Yes, I will disembark here and go see them. Thank you for helping with the batarian relay." "My pleasure, Bray. Take care."

Cassidy called up Samesh, "Prepare a requisitions list and submit it to the Iowa. We will return tomorrow to resupply."

Cassidy checked her messages and saw that Garrus was already back aboard the Normandy. She heard Liara's voice, "Cassidy." Cassidy looked up and saw Liara approaching from the direction of the asari embassy. Cassidy and Liara caught up with Hannah and Ashley and went back to the Normandy.

Cassidy went with Ashley to her room. Melanie came off the elevator and came up, "Grandma Hannah says Ashley is being reassigned?" Cassidy said, "Yes, that's something you'll need to get used to with a military family and if you go into the military yourself. We go where the brass says we're needed." Ashley added, "Yup, it certainly felt like my sisters and I were constantly packing and moving." Cassidy agreed, "Yes, lots of moving. Did Grandma also tell you that you'll be going to Grissom Academy next week?" "Yes, she mentioned that, but that's later, and Ashley leaving is right now."

Ashley came out with her duffel bags. Melanie and Cassidy accompanied Ashley back to the airlock. Ashley put her bags down and gave Melanie a hug. Then Ashley stood up and saluted, "Permission to disembark, Captain?" Cassidy saluted her back, "Permission granted, Lieutenant Commander." Ashley picked up her bags and left the Normandy.

Cassidy walked up to Joker and said, "Illium, please." "Jumping now, Captain."

Cassidy went back up to the cabin. Garrus was there, reading something on his omni-tool. He looked up, "Where are we headed now?" "A quick trip to Illium, then back for resupply, then heading out to get the Arcturus relay functioning again." "Ah. I passed Bray leaving with his bag." "He's going to see if the salarian research team can use his genetics in their study of the batarian population problem. Ashley left as well. She's been reassigned to the Citadel. What was on Sparatus' agenda?" "He just basically brought me up to date. He asked me to look out for news on those Leviathan artifacts."

Cassidy continued, "Melanie will be starting at Grissom Academy next week." "Yes, Sanders has me on her broadcast list, so I just saw the news about a new class starting." "Let's go down and have dinner with everybody tonight." "Alright."

They arrived at Illium after dinner. Cassidy told everybody they had 12 hours of shore leave. Cassidy met Hannah, Melanie and Solana for a cab over to Matriarch Kaleera's. Kaleera met them herself and her daughter was bringing the tea tray already. They chatted briefly about the latest extranet news while enjoying their tea.

"Alright, Admiral . . . please go undress. Fiala, bring the rack." Kaleera got up once the rack was in place next to the table. She put a pair of pale green mid-height fold-over boots down and Hannah stepped into those. Kaleera took a long tunic with cream under and sheer pale green over, and that went on first. Then a multi-strand belt in a slightly darker green went on. A loosely woven linen jacket that matched the belt went over, with silver and jade accented jewelry. Finally a jade color hat with silver and lighter green accents.

Cassidy said, "Mom, you look dignified and lovely." Melanie said, "Very pretty and very you." Kaleera smiled, "Alright, while we are adjusting the fit here, Melanie go get undressed."

When Melanie's turn came, they had her put on tights and a long tunic in the taupe color. Then they had her put on boots similar to Hannah's but with a lower heel and in the taupe color. Over that came a hooded robe in dark blue with white lace cut-outs. Then there were white embroidered belt and collar with taupe accents. Taupe bangle bracelets finished the look.

Solana said, "Very pretty, Melanie. Very proper young adult turian look." Kaleera was pinning the robe in the back. Her daughter said, "You may pick up all the dresses in the week preceding your event."

Melanie got dressed and Cassidy thanked Kaleera for accomadating them on short notice. Kaleera said, "Captain, you are doing me the honor here. I am so pleased to be able to dress you and yours."

They went out. Cassidy messaged Garrus and Liara to meet them at the wharf to take the cruise of the bay that Liara had booked for them all. They got in their cab and headed out.

They were in heavy traffic when something big started a chain reaction, vehicles crashing all around. Their cab was forced down heavily and was sent tumbling over a roof top and down the other side, crashing and lodging into a side window of an office building, the lid unable to open.


	49. Chapter 49

Chapter 49

Emergency services got to the cab with Cassidy, Melanie, Hannah and Solana inside. The lid of the cab was cut open and their 4 unconscious bodies were lifted out and put on stretchers and into ambulances.

Garrus and Liara were waiting at the wharf. When it got to be 10 minutes beyond their meeting time, he tried Cassidy's com. Getting nothing, he tried Solana's, then Melanie's, and finally Hannah's. Liara got on the net "There is a big pile-up accident mid-town. There are scores of reported crashes and emergency crews are being called in from the cities around. EDI, do you have anything more?" EDI replied, "I'm checking hospital emergency lists . . . nothing yet." Liara turned to the cruise agent and cancelled. She led Garrus over to a table and sat him down. She pulled up a menu and ordered him and her relaxing drinks.

A half hour later, EDI said, "I found Hannah and Melanie at West Side and Solana is at Central. No sign of Cassidy yet." Garrus said, "I should go to where Melanie is." Liara said, "Yes and I will go to see Solana."

Garrus and Liara got in a cab and Liara dropped Garrus at West Side. Then she went off to Central. Garrus looked at the gathering crowd of people and pushed forward looking for someone official. He found an asari with a datapad and a headphone answering questions and pointing. He got in line.

When it was his turn, he had an image of Melanie up on his omni-tool. He said, "This is my daughter, Melanie Rand Shepard Victus Vakarian." The asari consulted her datapad then said, "Through security, then 25th floor." Garrus left.

On the 25th floor, an attendant looked at him and said, "I'm sorry sir, the turians were taken to Central." He said, "My adopted daughter is a human, Melanie Vakarian." The attendant pointed behind her, "Room 4, right side, third bed."

Garrus went to Room 4 and found Melanie. She was unconscious or asleep with a breathing mask. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. A doctor came in the room, spotted him and came over. She looked at Garrus' visitor's badge hanging from his neck, then scanned it. She said, "Sorry, Advisor Vakarian, I don't mean to be rude, but we are taking more security precautions with the minors. I am Dr. T'Rushis. Melanie came in on an ambulance, she had been reported unconscious at the scene and she is still. She was treated for some minor interal bleeding on admittance. I can send her for scans now if you will sign here and here." Garrus scrawled his signature on her pad.

The doctor said, "We are going to roll her bed out to Evaluation, then bring her back here. It will probably take an hour or more with all the people we are handling. You can drag a chair to wait here if you like. There is a cafeteria on Level 30." She left and a couple of younger staff came in and rolled Melanie's bed out.

Garrus went out to the nursing station. "Could you please tell me where Alliance Rear Admiral Hannah Shepard is?" The nurse nearest him looked up and said, "And what is she to you?" "My mother-in-law." The nurse reached up and scanned his visitor badge. She turned to her screen and typed in a search, then did another one. She said, "Give me your badge, please." She put his badge in a machine near her. "You are authorized as family for Admiral Shepard now, as well as Melanie. 19th floor, Advisor Vakarian." She handed his badge back to him.

Garrus went to the elevator and to the 19th floor. His badge began a slow flash. He turned to the right and it glowed solidly. He walked down the hallway and one of the doors started a small flashing patch. He turned and tried the door. A VI voice sounded inside the room, "Advisor Garrus Vakarian." After a few moments an asari voice said, "Let him in."

Garrus went in and saw that Hannah was not awake and was the only patient in the room and there was an asari nurse with her. "Please, come in, Advisor. Admiral Shepard is about to receive treatment for a broken right forearm and wrist, a broken right hip and a cracked skull. The fractures are not complicated, just cracks so we should be able to rouse her after the first treatment." "My adopted daughter, Melanie Vakarian, is on the 25th floor. Would it be possible to get her transferred into this room, with her grandmother?" "Let me get the Admiral on her way to treatment, then I will consult with their two doctors and we'll see what we can do." Garrus stepped back in the hallway as two orderlies came to wheel Hannah out.

Garrus followed the nurse to the nursing station and sat on a bench nearby. A young volunteer came up and asked, "Can I fetch you something to drink?" He named the turian equivalent of coffee.

While he waited, the nurse called him up to the counter. "Dr DeJesus has agreed to take Melanie's case over. Dr T'Rushis has made the transfer of attending physician and has directed that Melanie be assigned to Admiral Shepard's room." "Thank you, nurse."

The volunteer came with a container and handed it to Garrus. He thanked her and took it back to the room. He went in, sat in a chair, drank, then contacted Liara. "Hello, Garrus. I'm in the lobby at Central. There not letting anybody but immediate family inside. The hospital extranet site lists her condition as serious." "Hannah has broken bones on the right side, she getting treatment now. Melanie is getting evaluated. They are on the 19th floor here. Any sign of Cassidy?" "No, and that concerns me. She should have been taken to West Side, which is where human patients were assigned. There aren't any overflow problems reported there, so I don't think she would have been transferred elsewhere. EDI says she can't reach Cassidy. I'll keep looking." "Why don't you see if Dr Chakwas can take over Solana's case and get her transferred to the Normandy? Then you can get back to the ship as well." "That's a good idea, Garrus. I'll do that now."

The door opened and two orderlies wheeled Melanie's bed in, then left. Garrus got up and went over to her chart and looked. He tapped the evaluation page and saw that she had general scans done on her skin and skeletal structure, internal scan on her organs, and a scan of her lungs and brain. No results were listed. He put the datapad back and dragged the chair over to sit next to her bed. He pulled up the extranet to see what news there was about the accident in general.

Dr Chakwas messaged him that Solana was being transferred to the Normandy and that Liara would accompany Solana on the trip up. Garrus contacted EDI, "Put a message on secure channel to Admiral Hackett. Let him know what's going on. And Primarch Victus, let him know too." "Actually, Admiral Hackett is requesting to speak with you, Advisor. Shall I patch him through to you?" "Patch him through, EDI" Hackett's voice, "Advisor? What's going on? I've seen the news reports and EDI says the Captain is MIA." "That's about the size of it, Admiral. Admiral Shepard is getting treated for bone fractures on the right side. Melanie's been evaluated but I haven't talked to the doc yet about the results. Solana is being transferred to the Normandy to be treated by Dr Chakwas. We haven't heard from nor about the Captain and her comm is not responding." "Alright. Keep me updated. Hackett out."

Garrus went back to reading the news sites. After awhile a human doctor came in. "Advisor Vakarian? I'm Dr DeJesus." Garrus shook the doctor's hand. "We have turned Melanie's biotic amp off for now. She has a broken left collarbone, a concussion, a broken jaw and a broken left kneecap along with a deep bruise on her cheek. We think her knee slammed up into her jaw. She had some internal bleeding on the admission scan which we treated immediately. She will need at least two bone treatments, the first to do realignments. We are also concerned about some sedative in her blood, that would have been administered in a gaseous form. Do you know anything about that? We noticed the same thing in the Admiral's blood work as well."

Garrus looked confused, "No, I don't think they would have had contact with any sedative gas. They were at the dressmaker's then got in the cab, coming to meet me." "Well, it was unusually strong." "Do you know what the name of the drug is? My sister was in the cab with them and she is being transferred to our ship, the Normandy. Dr Chakwas should know about what you found." "I'll message Dr Chakwas directly. Now do you have questions about Melanie's treatment?" "When will she got for the first round of bone treatment?" "The orderlies should come shortly."

The doctor continued, "Now, about Admiral Shepard. She should be returning from treatment soon. What time of the day is it aboard ship?" Garrus looked at his omni-tool. "Its 0125 now, past midnight." "Then we won't look for her to wake for hours yet. There is a family cot here in this cabinet, if you wish to get some rest, Advisor. Any other questions?" "Not at this time, doctor."

The door opened and two orderlies wheeled in Hannah's bed. She was splinted from head to knee on her right side and had fluids hooked up. The orderlies took Melanie's bed out. The doctor left and Garrus sat in the chair, tilted his head forward and fell asleep.

"Advisor Vakarian?" Garrus awakened to see two armed and armored asari in front of him, one taller and more purple than the other. "Advisor, I am Kira Sways in the Currents, and this is Prawel Campbell. We are with Citadel Special Tactics and Recon. Councilor Tevos sent us to look for Captain Shepard Victus." Garrus straightened up and minimally stretched, "Well. Here's what I know. The Captain, my mate, was with her mother, Admiral Shepard, " he pointed over his shoulder, "our adopted daughter, Melanie," he gestured at the space where the bed should be, "and my sister, Commander Solana Vakarian, who is now aboard the Normandy. They were at an appointment at Matriarch Kaleera's. Cassidy called me just after that appointment to say they would meet me and Dr Liara T'Soni at the wharf for a cruise on the bay. They were in the accident in mid-town. Ambulances brought Hannah and Melanie here and Solana to Central. We haven't heard anything from or about Cassidy."

Kira said, "We will check the cams for their departure from Matriarch Kaleera's." Garrus said, "Oh yes, and the doctor said there was a gaseous sedative in the blood of these two. If you give me a moment, I'll check with Dr Chakwas to see if Solana had that same thing in her blood." He put through a call. Dr Chakwas' voice, "Garrus, I'm glad you called. I've gotten Solana stabilized and she should wake soon. She had a broken leg, looks like she broke it once before. I've got that healing started." Garrus asked "Doc, did Dr DeJesus send you a message about a sedative?" Chakwas replied, "Yes, he did and yes, Solana had that in her blood as well. Its a neutral one that works for just about any oxygen breathing species, and it was a strong dose. I've managed to neutralize nearly all of it in Solana."

Kira glanced at Prawel and nodded. Kira said, "We'll start tracing video to find out if we can trace that cab and what exactly happened to it in the emergency response and if anything was done to it while they were inside Matriarch Kaleera's." Garrus said, "Please keep me updated. Thank you." Kira and Prawel left. Garrus nodded off again.

Garrus awakened when the door opened and two orderlies returned Melanie's bed to the room. Melanie was now splinted from head to toe on her left side, with newly healing slices on her jaw, collarbone, and knee cap, and had fluids hooked up. He got up and read her chart again. He went over to Hannah's and read that one as well. He sat back down and nodded off once more.


	50. Chapter 50

Chapter 50

Cassidy woke to total black darkness. She was on a cold stone floor and she was cold. Her arms and legs were bare and she seemed to be wearing a thin sleeveless tunic to just below her hips and nothing else. She had a whale of a headache, seemed to have bruised nearly all over, and had a parched mouth and throat. She listened and heard the sound of water trickling. She felt and found a wall and levered herself up to a stand. She stepped carefully toward the sound and stopped herself when she found water underfoot. She reached out in front of her and felt a piece of stone that had water flowing off of it into the water below. She tasted a little off her hand. It tasted of minerals and metals and was cold but otherwise fine. She cupped her hands and drank from the flow above.

She tried to pace out the dimensions of the room, but found only one smooth wall, the rest being rough and cave like. She guessed it was about 2 meters in diameter at the longest and about 1¼ meters at the shortest. She couldn't reach the ceiling. She couldn't feel a door or opening. There seemed to be an air current coming from above the water flow. She didn't know where the air left the room.

She sat as comfortably as she could and thought of Liara and Shiala and settled herself, letting go of the physical and embracing the eternity around her. There were no answering thoughts nearby. She pushed upward and found the self-concerned hunger of a burrowing animal. She pushed further up but found nothing. She felt tired and let it go. She let herself relax into sleep.

–

Garrus woke up and turned around to find Hannah staring at him. He stood up and walked over. He started talking and told her everything he knew about the night before. She pointed with her left hand at a cup with a straw in it on her bedside table. He grabbed it and gave it to her. She cleared her throat and asked for the nursing button. He pointed it out right at her rail and she pushed it. A voice came on, "Admiral Shepard, you're awake?" "Yes, and I'd like to have some fruit and talk with my attending physician." "We'll call her right away, Admiral." Hannah looked at Garrus and said "I thought you said the attending was a male human?" Garrus went and examined her chart. "Ah, Dr DeJesus has gone off duty and your current attending is listed as Dr Elizabeth Freilich."

Dr Freilich came in the door, wearing an Alliance uniform. She appeared to be possibly older than Hannah but younger than Hackett. Garrus put the chart down and extended his hand, "I am Advisor Garrus Vakarian, the Admiral's son-in-law and father to Melanie there." "I'm Dr Freilich. Well, Admiral, let me have a look at you here." The doctor took a machine out of her pocket and put it on the tray table, flicking a switch, "Look at the glowing dot and follow it around the room with your eyes." The doctor took another machine out of her pocket and scanned Hannah while she was following the dot. She nodded and turned off the dot machine. "You are healing well. If you don't mind, I'm going to have breakfast for the four of us brought here. Admiral Hackett wants my report." Hannah said, "Yes, that's fine, where were you before this?"

The doctor finished putting in her order and walked over to Melanie saying, "The esteemed Admiral was my first commanding officer, way back before the First Contact days. I was on a ship over by Eden Prime last night, when he sent word to get myself over here, so I hopped in a shuttle and my pilot and I arrived just about an hour ago." She lightly tapped Melanie's face, "Melanie, wake up child. You're safe." Melanie's eyes blinked a bit and she groaned, "My head hurts." "Yes I know. I think you gave yourself a hard uppercut with your knee last night. Here suck on this straw. Advisor, get something to wipe the crust off her eyes."

Garrus came back with a wet washcloth and carefully wiped off Melanie's eyelids. She looked up at him and said, "Where's mom? um, Cassidy?" "We don't know yet, Melanie." She looked over at Hannah, who sadly shook her head. Garrus said, "There are a couple of asari Spectres looking for her now."

The door opened and an orderly brought in a cart with 4 trays on it, 3 lidded in blue and 1 red. The doctor went over and said to Melanie, "I'm sorry, hun, but you are going to have to drink yours this time." Melanie said, "That's okay." The doctor handed her a big cup with a straw. Hannah said, "I'll take the eggs." The doctor set up the trays for Hannah and herself. Garrus took his and set up near Melanie.

Dr Freilich said, "Melanie, you are going to have a fairly extensive set of bone treatments later this morning. We won't be able to release your jaw for unlimited use for another couple days, so its going to be liquids for lunch, then soft foods for the next couple days. They turned off your biotic amp, so don't bother trying anything biotic." Then the doctor turned to Hannah, "You, Admiral, will have the final setting treatment probably about the same time as Melanie. You will need to stay off that hip for another day or so, so not even sitting."

Hannah looked over at Garrus, "I'm going to send the Normandy back to get that resupply off the Iowa. You should be aboard for that trip. The Normandy can bring you back here afterward. I'll talk to the asari Spectres if they return." Garrus sighed and said, "Aye, aye, Admiral." He finished his last few bites. He leaned over to kiss Melanie lightly on her forehead. She said, "See you later, dad." He said, "I'll be back as soon as I can." He went out to return to the Normandy.

Dr Freilich said, "I've got a copy of "Aster's Suitors", if you're interested." Both Hannah and Melanie agreed. The doc went to the screen and input an OSD and set the movie to play. She typed a report to Admiral Hackett during the intro.

Just as the closing credits were rolling, orderlies came for both Melanie's then Hannah's beds. Dr Freilich went to specifically oversee Melanie's treatment.

Hannah's treatment was done first. The orderlies came to wheel her back. One checked her chart and stopped. "Admiral, it says here to take you to a suite up on 32. The notation says for you to check your messages." Hannah pulled up her omni-tool and there was a message from Adrien Victus, saying he had reserved a suite if that was acceptable to her and Melanie. "32 it is, then." said Hannah. "No, wait. Can I get bathed in the room on 19 before we go up to 32, please?" One of the orderlies said, "Certainly, Admiral, we'll take care of that for you." They wheeled her to the old room and gave her a sponge bath, changed her sheets and her gown, gave her a blanket and brushed her hair and pulled it back into a bun as she directed.

They brought her up to the left hand suite on the 32nd floor. There were two turian guards outside the door that nodded politely at Hannah. Inside, Adrien was by the windows looking out at the sunset. He turned and watched as they parked Hannah in one of the flower-filled alcoves and as they left. He came up and gently took her hands. "Hannah, this is certainly not how I pictured our first time alone would be." She smiled and said, "Adrien, you've been thinking about time alone with me, you rascal?" His flanges loosened and he coughed a bit. He lifted her left hand and kissed her knuckles. She blushed a little.

His flanges came in. "Has there been any word on Cassidy?" he asked. Hannah sighed and said, "Nothing yet. I'm hoping those two asari Spectres will report in sometime soon." Hannah checked her messages again. There was one from Dr Freilich. "The doctor says Melanie is about halfway through her bone treatments, they're giving her a break, and some lunch. Speaking of which, would you care for lunch up here with me?" "I'd be pleased. What are you ordering?" Adrien placed the orders. There was a knock at the door, the VI announced, "Spectre Sways in the Currents and Spectre Campbell." Hannah said, "Let them in."

Kira and Prawel came in. Kira said, "Here's what we've been able to dig up so far." She synched her omni-tool to the screen and showed camera footage with a shop door in the center. "That's the entrance to Matriarch Kaleera's and here are you all coming out of the shop. Spectre Captain Shepard Victus stops and sends a message. Notice Commander Vakarian opening the cab on the left. Now we'll back up to when you all arrived. See the cab pull up and here you all get out and go in the shop. Now I'm going to advance it ten minutes. Watch the cab. There, see the lid open. There is a cloaked somebody there. They spend just over 40 seconds and the lid closes."

Kira changed the video to one from inside an office building, watching some dataservers, and also looking out the window. Kira pointed out the bit of traffic that could be seen between the two buildings in view. She slowed the playback and said, "Watch that big truck just coming into view in the upper back. The truck dipped and hit the cars just below and to its left and kept sinking. Those cars dipped and swerved and the chain reaction was off. Then a cab comes tumbling off the left hand building, and wedges itself into that office."

Kira advanced the video 17 minutes. "The VI in the office called emergency services when the windows broke. There you can see the cab being pulled backward and there is the support sling to keep it level up there outside the window. There you see the responders trying to wedge the lid open, then going for the can opener. See the responder with the can opener lifts her hand up and coughs hard for awhile before continuing the opening. There the other responder is looking inside and calling for ambulances. They keep cutting on the glass until there, they pop the cut-out off. They're lifting Melanie and she goes into the first ambulance and it rushes off. Meanwhile they're lifting Commander Vakarian. They get her onto a stretcher and into the next ambulance, which then heads off. Same with you, Admiral Shepard and your ambulance goes. Now they are lifting the Captain. There is no ambulance yet, so they lay her on the top of the cab. That responder points downward and waves up. The lift the Captain and lower her, presumbably onto a stretcher and into an ambulance, but we cannot see that." She stopped the playback and switched to another.

"This one is from an office directly across the street. Let me get it to the right time, and ok, there you can see the cab with the responders laying Captain Shepard on the top. Now look to the lower right. An ambulance is rising from below. It hovers below and beyond and extends its stretcher out the back. Notice we don't see any ambulance attendants, the glass is dark. There are no id numbers visible where they should be. The Captain is lowered onto the stretcher and into the ambulance. The ambulance goes down and off."

Kira turned the video off. "We traced the video track of that ambulance along the street all the way until it leaves the city and off the view of any other cameras we could access."

Adrien and Hannah exchanged glances. Hannah said, "It looks as if the whole crash was orchestrated so they could take Cassidy?" Adrien nodded, "This has to be Eclipse." Kira said, "That much coordination and resources, we have to agree with you. We have presented this to the Matriarchs already. We have been unable to find either the responders or any of the ambulances or their drivers. We did get the video from the hospitals showing the three arrivals as expected." Hannah asked, "What did the Matriarchs say?" Kira answered, "They told us to pull all of the details of outbound ships from the time that ambulance left the city until outbound shipping was closed once the Captain was known to be missing. Unfortunately, that means a few hours of outbound ships or quite a bit of territory outside the city. They won't hold up outbound ships for more than a day." Adrien held Hannah's hand a little more firmly.

A knock came from the door, the VI announced, "Cafeteria services" and Kira said, "We'll be taking our rest, then continuing from where the police get during that time. We'll let you know when we find something." Hannah said, "Come in." The door opened and a cafeteria worker brought in a tray with their lunches. Kira and Prawel left with the cafeteria worker.

Hannah and Adrien ate their lunches quietly. Hannah checked her messages halfway through. "Admiral Hackett and Garrus have been briefed as have all the Councilors. The Normandy is headed back this way. Oh. The rachni queen is sending out units to every planet that they can get to, to try and find Cassidy by 'touchings of thought' " Adrien said, "I'll make sure turian escorts go with the rachni to guard them and keep off any would be attackers." Hannah said, "I'm passing your suggestion on to Admiral Hackett, see if we can send human escorts as well."

–

Cassidy opened her eyes, but there was still nothing but blackness. She wondered if she could test whether there really was no light, or if she was blind. She couldn't think of anything off the top of her head, so she began to explore the room again, this time on hands and knees. Over in the corner opposite the water, she found a bundle wrapped in a cloth. She undid the knots and spread the cloth. There was a plastic cup and a small loaf of squishy bread. She ate the bread, some sort of banana-like bread, and used the cup to gather water from the flow off the rock, which she then drank. She used the cloth to wash her face and hands. She put the cloth and cup on a flat space of the rock above where she had been sleeping.

She went to sit in the place where she had found the bundle. She turned her face upward and attempted to push her thoughts to the minds around her. She was weaker than before, though, so she didn't get far, not even to any burrowing animal. She decided to leave herself open, not pushing, but receiving and sat that way for some time.

Eventually, she fell asleep and started dreaming. She was in the Shadow Broker's Lair and he was pounding her with his shield, sending her tumbling. Then she was in the room with Object Rho, watching from above as the indoctrinated soldiers picked up her body and carried her away. She followed them to the back, where a soldier stayed to strip her of her armor. Then she was watching Ashley's sister go for a walk in the woods with her boyfriend, and he reached for her. Then the images stopped. Her head jerked up.

She went over and settled herself again as comfortably as she could and went back to sleep.


	51. Chapter 51

Chapter 51

Melanie was returned to the room late in the afternoon, still all splinted up. She was asleep. Dr Freilich came with her. "She is worn out from the bone treatments. I'm going to wake her for dinner though, she needs the calories. Oh, sorry, I'm Dr Elizabeth Freilich." She held her hand out to Adrien. Hannah said, "My fault, Liz, I should have introduced you. This is Primarch Adrien Victus. He adopted Cassidy and Melanie." Adrien said, "Pleased to meet you, Dr Freilich. I can see that my granddaughter is in excellent care."

A knock on the door and the VI said "Advisor Garrus Vakarian and Dr Karin Chakwas." Hannah said, "Let them in." Dr Freilich turned as the door opened and went to Dr Chakwas and hugged her. "Karin, its been too long." "Likewise Liz. How are you?" The two doctors went over to a far corner to talk. Garrus came up and saluted the Primarch. "At ease, Garrus." Garrus looked at Melanie and asked, "What's the news here?" Hannah said, "She had a day full of bone treatments and is worn out and sleeping. We should order dinner for everyone. Dr Freilich says she needs the calories." Adrien took their requests and placed orders.

Hannah asked, "How is Solana, Karin?" "Doing well. She is chafing at the rest restrictions and plays a mean game of double solitaire." Garrus said, "Her tongue is certainly as sharp as ever." Adrien said, "Hannah taught me to play cribbage this afternoon." Garrus said, "Cassidy recently taught me to play as well."

Dinners arrived. Garrus went over and woke Melanie. Dr Freilich said, "I know I said before that you could go to soft foods this evening, but your bone treatments took longer that I thought, so it's still shakes. Sorry." Melanie said, "It's OK, doctor." Melanie looked over and said, "Hi Grandpa Adrien." Adrien came over and leaned down to kiss her gently on the forehead, "Hello Melanie. I'm sorry you're hurt." Melanie looked over at Garrus, "Anything on mom?" Garrus said, "We're still looking for her. Those Spectres figured out that Eclipse took her and they'll keep looking too." Melanie looked worried, "Why would Eclipse do that?" Hannah said, "Because someone paid them to."

They ate their dinners. Dr Freilich went to check on Melanie again and found she had fallen back asleep. "Dr Chakwas and I are going to to the Normandy for a tour and to sleep, if that's okay with the brass here in the room?" Hannah said, "Dr Freilich, permission granted to board the Normandy." Garrus got up and said, "I think I'll head back up with you for the night. I had a very short night last night." Hannah said, "Good night, Liz, Karin, Garrus." They left.

Adrien said, "So, how shall we spend our evening?" Hannah said, "Tell me about Tarquin when he was little." They talked about early childhood parenting in a military life and found they had much in common. Talk turned to Cassidy's dad and Tarquin's mom. It got late and Hannah couldn't stop from yawning. Adrien said, "I should go." Hannah said, "Isn't there another bed in here? I can't get up should Melanie wake and Garrus is on the Normandy." Adrien said, "Well, let me see. VI, where is the guest bed?" "Go to the door where the light is flashing. Push the flashing button and the door will open to the guest bedroom." Adrien sent a message to his guards outside the door. Then he pushed the button on the wall and the door opened and he went in to explore the room. He got a message and he went out and accepted a bag from his guards. He went to change and then opened the guest door and left it that way. Hannah said, "VI, night lights." The lights went way down. "Goodnight Adrien." "Goodnight, Hannah."

Cassidy was dreaming of leaning back into Garrus' embrace, feeling warm and cared for.

She woke to the sound of the water falling more than the trickle it had been. There was water pooling on the floor where she was sitting, making her butt and her feet cold. The water on the floor seemed to be just a few millimeters thick at the moment, but the tunic had soaked up the water and she was freezing. She got on her feet, took the tunic off and wrung out as much of the water as she could. She put it back on and made her way over to where she had found the bundle. She unintentionally kicked something that clattered away. She squatted down and felt around with her hands, getting turned around. Finally she found it and stood up. It seemed to be shaped like a squashed cylinder, the surface was smooth, probably hard plastic. She felt a groove on one side, so she pushed there and was rewarded with a click and a glow, which seemed to her eyes to be unbearably bright. She shielded her eyes until she got used to the glow.

She was extremely thankful for the gift of the glow. She took it around the small room to look at the walls and the water falling down the rock and off a stone that jutted out. She went back to the corner and looked up as high as she could reach. There was darkness above the smooth wall as if that was a floor above.

The water was covering her toes now. She looked carefully at the stone wall adjacent to the smooth one, spotting possible climbing holds. She went over and took the cloth, making it back into a bundle, with the plastic cup tied inside. She secured the bundle to one of the shoulder straps of her tunic. She took the glow and felt carefully on the back side, away from the glow. Yes, there was a piece to pull out that made a clip. She clipped the glow to the other strap of her tunic.

She started to climb. She stubbed her fingers and toes and slipped several times, but finally she felt a floor over the smooth wall. She climbed a bit higher and found the floor extended at least enough that she felt confident to maneuver over to sit on it. She unclipped the glow and moved it around to see as much as she could from her resting position. The room below was lost in darkness now. There were some big rocks just beyond the bit of floor she was sitting on. The rock wall across from her was starting to slope in, coming closer to the smooth wall, which seemed to her to continue upward around the spot she was in. There seemed to be enough room for her to stand on her bit of floor, so she did.

She took the glow and looked at the backside of the smooth wall, which was equally smooth. She followed it back toward the water, then found a corner with another smooth wall. There was a big rock right there, so she couldn't walk to follow the new wall. She re-clipped her glow and climbed up onto the rock. There was not quite room to stand all the way up. She took the glow and looked at the topside of the rock. There was not much more horizontal surface than what she was standing on. She looked around carefully and figured she was on top of a rock slide that had broken into a room. She sat down on the rock to rest. She listened to the water splashing into the pool below.

–

Melanie woke in the night. She looked around by the low lights and saw that Grandma Hannah was asleep and there was an open door beyond her bed. She guessed that's where someone else was, like maybe dad or Grandpa Adrien. She thought about how it was getting a bit easier to think of Cassidy and Garrus as mom and dad. She didn't think of them as THE mom and dad, but as her second ones. She had been practicing that in her head ever since the adoption. She felt a wave of grief for her first mom and dad and Evan. To distract herself, she whispered at her omni-tool to open, which it did. She used whispered voice commands to get on the extranet.

She had been surfing awhile, going from news to comments to forums about the accident. She stumbled onto a teen's forum that she had lurked in from time to time for the past couple years. She was in a thread where they were referencing what seemed to Melanie like veiled comments about mom.

"Grandma Hannah! Grandma!" Hannah woke up quickly. "What is it, Melanie?" "Grandma, I'm on the net and I think I've found some kids who might have something to do with what happened to mom." Adrien came out of the other room. "Let me see, Melanie." She syched her omni-tool to the big screen. "See there . . .

LockedUp008: Where is the pkg?

MRBlownAway: The crash was perfect, the pkg was taken out and tossed down the hole.

MegOrphan3: Perfect? Didn't you read the article? A baby died!

LockedUp008: They got the job done. You agreed the pkg needs this.

DennisWho: Its kin got proper treatment. Not like us.

MRBlownAway: Needed indirect, remember?! Boss of yours rezzed it, jacked it up.

MegOrphan3: I didn't agree to drowning. There's a storm coming.

MRBlownAway: We didn't make the storm. Demise is not inevitable, yet.

LockedUp008: It left mine in the way, no way out. It has a chance, she didn't.

MRBlownAway: U did send the stuff down?

MegOrphan3: I told you I did.

DennisWho: Its navy, it can swim.

MegOrphan3: Didn't you feel that water, its freezing! Hypothermia then?

LockedUp008: U going soft on us? We could let u share its fate.

Adrien was typing on his omni-tool, Hannah on hers.

–

Cassidy's head jerked up. She had fallen asleep where she sat on the rock. The glow was out. She unclipped it and tucked it into the bundle. She didn't hear the water splashing anymore. Worriedly, she wondered how long she had slept and how high the water had gotten. She felt for the next rock up and clambered onto it. She felt for the ceiling and found that it stopped just there and she could scooch herself over a little and sit up. She reached over the broken edge of the ceiling and felt around. She found a spot where the topside came to meet the rocks. She carefully stood up and slowly put her weight over there and found that part of the structure stable.

She felt her way back toward the original smooth wall. She found it and turned to follow it to what should be a corner if this floor mirrored the one below. There was no corner there. She continued following the wall until it did come to a corner. She turned and followed that wall, carefully testing the floor before each step. She came to a point where the floor continued, but the wall did not. Thinking this might be a doorway she felt with her feet to see if the floor went through the door. It did, so she continued following the wall back to the outer wall. She pressed her ear to the wall and heard the sound of moving water beyond it. She turned to follow the outer wall again. It went for quite a ways. She sat down to think and rest. She was cold and she knew she was in danger of hypoglycemic shock and she needed water.

She pressed her ear to the wall and heard a soft static noise beyond. She sat and opened her mind, casting out as far as she could. This time, she felt a presence, seeking, yet so far off. The feeling faded away. By force of will she dragged herself away from sleep and stood up. She turned back. She knew if she followed the wall back, she could find water wherever the water had risen to. She went back, counting her steps, to where the floor was broken. She found a small piece of rock and she dropped it down there. It bounced and then splashed. Cassidy wiggled her way back under and pushed a foot down to find the water level. It was just lapping the rock below.

She made her way down onto the rock below and knelt on it. She got the cup out and lowered it into the water below. She drained the cup twice. Then she rearranged herself and worked her way back to the floor above. She rested a moment then pulled herself up and retraced her steps to the furthest point and then kept going, until she found a corner. She sat at the corner, exhausted. She fell asleep.


	52. Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Glyph woke Liara, "Dr T'Soni. Councilor Tevos wishes to speak with you. She has flagged this request as Urgent." Tevos' voice, "Dr T'Soni, our rachni representative has indicated a possible contact. It says the contact was momentary and weak, but the queen believes the 'song was that of Shepard'." Liara asked, "Where was the rachni that made the contact?" "Illium" "Thank you, Councilor, for the update. We will narrow the search here." "Asari Embassy out."

Liara said "EDI, pull up meterological scans for heavy rain storms over underground ruins or abandoned wells. Copy those results to Sways in the Currents and Campbell." "I believe the most likely spot is this highlighted area on the northern polar continent, but there's a similar situation on this peninsula that is near the southern polar region."

Melanie was off for her final bone treatments with Dr Freilich. Hannah was being helped off the bed and over to a set of parallel bars that the Physical Therapy department had set up in the suite. Adrien reported the message, "Dr T'Soni has sent Sways in the Currents and Cambell to an area on the northern polar continent. Garrus and a crew are heading to a southern area." Hannah said, "Let's hope they find her soon." Hannah focused on getting her hip back to functional.

Garrus was in the shuttle in the south with Cortez, James, EDI and Clowder. Cortez had a live feed listening to Sways in the Currents. The storm was tossing the shuttle about. Clowder said, "Low level energy emissions 1.4 kilometers, bearing 339." Cortez said, "Seems like a research station or something. Heading for it." The feed sparked up and Kira announced they were heading for an abandoned mining camp.

Cassidy woke, still feeling tapped out. The floor under her was vibrating. She got up and started following the wall on her left. She felt an urgency and went faster. She came to a spot where the wall disappeared. She turned to go out the door and heard a loud rumbling directly behind her. She ran straight forward for about 10 meters then blacked out.

–

Cortez parked the shuttle on the facility roof. Garrus, James, Javik, EDI and Clowder went out into the maelstrom EDI led Garrus and Clowder led James and Javik down the stairs and over the front doors. EDI activated the doors and they went in and when the door shut, James' and Garrus' ears were ringing. An elderly asari wheeled herself out to greet them. "Quite the weather to be getting visitors. Come in, come in. I've got towels in the other room for you." She turned her chair around and went back.

Garrus said, "I, for one, wouldn't mind a towel or two." James said, "Same here. I feel like I could shake like a wet dog and still be drenched." Garrus said, "What's so notable about a wet dog shaking?" James said, "Tosses water out of its fur everywhere, pisses off anybody nearby." Javik said, "Be glad you are not a dog then." The followed the asari into the other room. She pointed them at a pile of towels on a table. Garrus grabbed a couple. Javik and James did also.

"I'm Tela Orian. What brings you to my data collection station?" EDI spoke up. "I am EDI, this is Advisor Garrus Vakarian, Alliance Lieutenant James Vega and Clowder. We are crew of the Normandy." "The famous Normandy?" "Yes, ma'am. We are here hoping to locate Captain Cassidy Shepard Victus who was kidnapped from the scene of a major traffic collision in Nos Astra two days ago." "I don't keep up with the local news as much as I should anymore. Why do you think she would be here?" "We understand there are underground ruins near here?"

Tela nodded, "Yes, though I doubt there is anything left after this latest shake. That volcano over yonder has been hissing and spitting for months now. Sometimes the magma moves and the ground shakes. That is what this station is for, to measure all that data." She hit a button on her chair, "Pauline, bring a tray, both levo and dextro." "Yes, gramma." Tela turned back to them. "That's my last late partner's 3 or 4 times great-niece or something like that, I forget. Lost her father in Aria's retaking of Omega, now she stays with me."

A teenage human girl came into the room carrying a tray with cheese and crackers. She looked at Garrus and dropped the tray and broke down crying, "I'm so sorry, Gramma, I didn't mean for it turn out this way." Tela turned her chair and rolled up to the girl. "Sh, sh, you need to tell us what's going on. Compose yourself, yes, that's it." The girl shot a nervous glance at Garrus and turned to Tela. "Gramma, I'm so sorry. My friends that were here the other day, they said I had the perfect place to hide something and they did, they put her down the hole where we used to climb down." "You are speaking of Captain Shepard?" "Yes, Gramma. They messaged me to say they did it and so I said I would send down some food. I lowered her down some banana bread and a cup and a glow. But then there was the shake today and I don't think she could survive that." She went back to wailing.

Garrus was typing into his omni-tool, "Steve, can you boost this out through the storm to the Normandy?" "Sorry Garrus, too much interference now, I'm not getting Sways in the Currents either." "Do you have ground penetrating scans?" "Yes, but its sonar, it would be putting energy into an unstable system."

Tela said, "I have something for you, Advisor." She wheeled herself over to a screen and brought up a side scan of a cave system. "This is the side view of the cave near the chimney hole that the kids used to play in. One side of that chimney is a wall of one of the Prothean buildings down there. This building shown here was partially destroyed by past shakes and subsequent rock slides. The cave system has another entrance up here, where the river goes underground and ends up falling over 83 meters into this cave. There may be more entrances, but they remain undiscovered if they are there." "Send me those maps please, Matriarch." said EDI.

Tela sent the files, then turned back to Pauline. "Alright, child. Now it is time to tell us why. Why did these associates of yours want to punish Captain Shepard?" She wiped the tears off her face with her hands, "We met on a forum, talked about how the kids of the so-called 'bad-guys' continue to get the blame. My dad was doing a job. He didn't know the top guy would go crazy. . . I don't know, but Shepard helped Aria and my dad died. It was like we knew how each other felt and the world didn't understand. One of them said that her mom was Sederis, that Shepard refused to release her and the Reapers got her when they got the Citadel. Another said his dad was a prison guard on Aratoht. He said Shepard was responsible. Another guy said his dad was a guard for Chora's Den, on the Citadel. Shepard again. But then that Sederis girl, she said she was still tight with a bunch of the Eclipse mercs and they could help us. I never meant for this to happen!" She dissolved back into tears.

Garrus said, "We should get back to the shuttle." Tela said, "Goddess go with you. I hope you find her alive."

They went back out into the storm and into the shuttle. EDI projected the surface map for Cortez. He said, "Caves are dark and cold. She's losing body heat every minute we wait. Let's go." He lifted the shuttle and pointed it into the driving rain. After a bit, he said, "We're over the river now. I'll follow that until it disappears."

Clowder said, "Sinkhole. We just passed one sinking, on the port side. It may offer a more direct way into the cave system." Cortez slowed then backed up slowly. Sure enough a sink hole was forming. Cortez circled it and then hovered above it, it sunk faster and soon there was enough room to sink straight down into the hole.

The lights, which weren't making any difference in the storm, began to illuminate a cave. Cortez settled the shuttle on top of the soil which was now on the floor of the cave. EDI brought up the cave system map and they estimated where they were. Clowder said, "The Prothean building is in front of this shuttle, approximately 720 meters." They opened the door and Garrus packed the thermal blanket and a coil of rope. James grabbed another coil of rope and Javik took the folded carry frame. They both popped up the lights on their weapons and packed an extra flashlight each.

Clowder led the way. He took them to the edge of the room and through a crack to a rough slope that had water running down it. At the bottom of the slope, he took them to the left side of the chamber, then indicated that they should secure a rope. While they did that, he dropped himself down to the next level about 6 meters. The others slid down the rope. Clowder led them straight forward, drifting left ward. His light shone on a manufactured door across the large room that was open. He led them through it onto a stairway. He turned left and went down the stairs, which curved back and forth. Window openings appeared in the right hand wall.

Finally they stepped onto cave floor again. There was a lake to their right and they heard the waterfall somewhere back there, falling into the lake. Clowder led them along the left hand wall, until they ran into the bottom of the rockslide.

Clowder turned on his IR. "There is a heat signature this way, Advisor." Clowder clambered over rocks until he found Cassidy's arm sticking out. Clowder considered the puzzle of the rocks on top of her. "We are going to need a team of biotics to stabilize this pile while it is deconstructed." EDI said, "I have sent a message to Cortez, he is heading to collect such a team now." Clowder circled around to the other side and said, "I can thread a rope from this side, then we can pull a thermal blanket over much of the Captain."

They threaded the rope over her and through the rocks and pulled the thermal blanket back over her, already activated. They sat down to wait on the reinforcements. Garrus reached in and held her hand. Javik said, "You are signaling your wish to comfort her through touch, though she is not conscious. I thought you did not recognize the communicative nature of touch." "We just don't have it developed to the high art that you Protheans achieved. Our simple way communicates emotions, we recognize that much." Javik said, "I can see fragments of the wall here. It would have been a standard building of my people, we used materials like this." He got up and turned on a flashlight. "James, please accompany me. I think I may be able to do something here." He and James clambered over the rocks to the left and disappeared behind the rock slide.

About twenty minutes later, lights came on high on the cavern walls. Garrus blinked until his eyes adjusted, then he saw the waterfall all lit up and the lake was overlapping a set of lights a meter or so inside its edges. He looked back and saw the broken walls of a building that collapsed under the rock fall right onto Cassidy's path and then onto her. 15 minutes later, James and Javik returned.

If felt like forever to Garrus, but finally EDI went up to guide the team back down. Sways in the Currents and Campbell were both there. An asari doctor and nurse came and Liara to work with Javik. They all had backpacks full of supplies. They set to work clearing the rocks off of Cassidy. There was a lifting pair, a stabilizing pair and a resting pair. Every fifteen minutes, they rotated. In the first rotation, the doctor and nurse were the resting pair, but they took that time to assess what they could from Cassidy's exposed arm. They put an IV into her.

After two hours of work, they finally had Cassidy strapped into the frame and prepped for transport. James and EDI took one end and Garrus and Clowder took the other. They trooped their way out to the shuttle.

It was about a two-hour ride back to Nos Astra.


	53. Chapter 53

Chapter 53

Adrien, Hannah and Melanie all got the message that Cassidy was found. Hannah walked over to hug Melanie. Melanie asked, "What does that mean, Grandma, that she's been located? Does it mean she still needs extraction or what? Why aren't they saying when she'll be brought here?" "We'll have to be patient. It was Cortez that sent the message, so that means that it was the southern group that found her." Hannah looked to see a second message. "Cortez is asking Liara to gather a rescue group of biotics, Cassidy's under a rock slide. He's arranging to pick them up in an hour and a half. He says he had to fly for half an hour to get free of the interference of the storm down there."

Drs Freilich and Chakwas came in. Dr Freilich said, "I've ordered another bed for up here. Where do you want her Hannah, there's plenty of room in here." "Pull Melanie to the center and have Cassidy's bed in that corner, with a guest bed for Garrus nearby."

Adrien helped Dr Chakwas rearrange Melanie's bed. He said, "Why don't we watch a movie then order up lunch. They are going to be a long time if they have to move a rock slide off Cassidy." Melanie said "I want to see 'Through the Looking Glass'." Everybody settled themselves for a movie then lunch.

After lunch, orderlies brought in a medical bed and a guest bed. Melanie perused the guide and found a marathon of 'Whodunnits'. They had fun guessing the culprit in each one.

Finally, a message came up that the shuttle was landing at the hospital. Melanie pulled up the local news and sure enough there were reporters down there broadcasting live. Hospital personnel came out with a gurney. The shuttle's door opened and James came out and pushed the cameras back. Sways in the Currents and Campbell came out and helped him. Cassidy was transferred from the sled to the gurney, thermal blanket and all and wheeled into the hospital. Garrus accompanied them in. The Spectres disappeared. The doctor and nurse went into the hospital by another way. Liara, James, Javik, EDI and Clowder got back in the shuttle and went back to the Normandy.

Cassidy was taken straight to Evaluation. Drs Freilich and Chakwas went down to supervise. Garrus came up to the suite and sat down hard. Adrien ordered a quick meal for him. Garrus said, "The field doc says she's in hypoglycemic coma and has bruising from the cab crash and then new bruising, cuts, friction burns, probable internal bleeding and bruises and a couple fractures from the rock slide. She was dehydrated and suffering from hypothermia as well, but the thermal blanket and the IV took care of those last two." He looked over at Melanie. "And how are you doing?" "I'm okay, Dad. Dr Freilich say I'll start physical therapy tomorrow. She says the bars will get lower for me. Oh, and they turned my biotic implant back on, though I promised not to do any biotics for another day. I got a message from Administrator Sanders, with a form for me to fill out."

The VI announced cafeteria services and Garrus' meal was brought in. He snarfed it down. A message came up from Dr Freilich that they were going to start Cassidy on some of her treatment right away and to not wait on them for dinner. Adrien ordered a buffet to be set up in another hour. Adrien turned to Hannah, "How about a walk up to the viewing deck?" Hannah said, "Sounds good to me." She pulled on a robe and slippers. They left the room. Garrus pulled his chair over by Melanie and they played cribbage.

The buffet was being set up when Adrien and Hannah came back. Adrien quizzed Melanie about which soft foods she liked and he prepared a tray for her and brought it to her, then he did the same for Hannah. Garrus came up and got his own. Adrien was preparing his when Cassidy was brought in on a gurney and transferred to the bed. The orderlies left and Drs Freilich and Chakwas came in. Adrien encouraged them to eat. Cassidy was splinted from neck down to her waist. She was covered in bruises everywhere skin was showing.

Dr Chakwas said, "We stopped the internal bleeding. We went in and repaired some internal connective tissues that had been torn. We did the initial alignment treatment for the two fractures, one in her ribs and one in a neck vertebra. We have her on a saline IV with the pain meds added and a nutrition tube. We'll start the dermal regen tomorrow after her glucose stores have been built up, again." Adrien said, "What do you mean, 'again', doctor?" Garrus answered, "When we were on Rannoch, she had been using her biotics like she does. If she can't snipe it she'll warp or pull or throw in a singularity. Then she took on the Reaper, playing dodge-the-beam to keep the target on lock on its firing chamber. Only it got a little too close once and she got burns all up and down her right side. But she kept the target on and the fleet took down the Reaper. Then, she had to yell at a quarian admiral to get him to stand down so that the geth wouldn't be forced to wipe the quarians out. Only after all that did she come back to the ship for food and treatment. Dr Chakwas there put her on light duty the next day because of the dermal regen from the burns. Only I was stupid enough to challenge her to ping pong and we went at it like we usually do which is definitely not light duty. She collapsed afterward in a hypoglycemic coma."

Adrien said, "And word is that she went through something similar at the Battle for Earth? I spoke to her briefly just before you kissed her in front of the spirits and everybody." "Kissing my mate before a fate-of-the-galaxy battle, such a shame." teased Garrus. "I believe Liara, Javik, Clowder, and EDI's platform were all in that pile of debris with Cassidy after the Crucible was triggered, but yes, Dr Lawson's report did mention hypoglycemic shock." said Hannah. Melanie said, "She warned me not to let myself get drained." Dr Chakwas said, "I hope you take that warning to heart, dear. You do not have the deep reserves of energy that she does."

Drs Freilich and Chakwas went back to the ship for the night. Garrus, Adrien and Hannah stayed up talking. Eventually Garrus looked over and saw Melanie had dropped off to sleep. Adrien cleared his throat and said, "Garrus, what's this Rahana tells me about her contributing genetic material for your turian children?" "That's what Cassidy told me she arranged with Rahana." "Well, I'm pleased that you two agreed to include Rahana and therefore our family genetics. When are you thinking to start the process?" "Cassidy said sometime not long after the family ceremony." Hannah said, "May I ask who is contributing to your human children?" "Steve Cortez." Hannah nodded, "I like that young man. That's good."

Hannah yawned and Garrus and Adrien agreed that it was time to call it a night. Garrus gratefully took the bed over by Cassidy and Adrien went back into the guest room.

Garrus woke to the sound of an argument outside the suite door. He quietly got out of bed and pulled his assault rifle out of the bag. The door was hinged on his side so he crept over just inside the open doorway of the guest room. Adrien looked up, saw him and got out of bed and grabbed a pistol. Adrien went out and quietly woke Hannah. The arguing was still going on outside the door. Hannah pointed at her bag and Adrien fetched it for her while she maneuvered herself off the other side of the bed. Melanie woke and looked at Hannah who put her finger to her lips. Melanie nodded. Hannah pulled a pistol out of her bag, quietly laid the bag on the floor and gently took a kneeling position, then used her omni-tool to put the camera view up on their big screen. She checked to make sure the armored covers were down over the windows, which they were.

On of the turian guards were holding a biotic shield over themselves and the other was speaking into his omni-tool. An asari in a cafeteria uniform was behind a cart with an assault rifle, firing in bursts at the shield. Her rifle sparked and she dropped it and pulled out a pistol and resumed firing. The sound of air ships was now coming from outside the windows. Adrien typed into his omni-tool. The biotic shield went down. The second guard stripped her shields and the biotic warped her. The asari fell over with from a head shot from behind her. An explosion from outside rattled the armored window covers. Rapid shots sounded.

EDI sent a text to Garrus' omni-tool, saying a wing of turian fighters had been deployed to take care of the gunship. Garrus looked back up at the screen. Hannah typed in something and the screen split to also show the view from an outward looking camera on the roof, just two floors above them. There was a gunship about to shoot another explosive round at their room.

Hannah said, "Melanie, get your barrier up!" Melanie's barrier was up. The explosion on the armored covers bent one inward and the window shattered in place behind it. Another cover dipped down slightly and an upper corner was now exposed. Garrus said, "We can't stay in here." Adrien barked into his omni-tool "Get that door open, we're coming out. Hannah put on her robe and slippers. Garrus ran to toss his bag and Melanie's onto Melanie's bed. Adrien went and got his bag and he came out and grabbed Hannah's bag. He placed them on Cassidy's bed. The door was open, Hannah and Garrus pushed Melanie's bed out first. The two turian guards pulled from the other end and got Melanie over by the elevator. Meanwhile Garrus motioned Hannah to walk behind Melanie's bed and he went in to help Adrien who had Cassidy's bed nearly lined up with the door.

There was another explosion and the shattered window was pushed entirely inward and it fell to the floor. Adrien told the VI to black out everything in the room. The big screen went off and the low level lights went out. Adrien and Garrus pushed Cassidy's bed into the hallway and closed the door behind. Hospital guards had pulled Melanie's bed down by the elevator. When Adrien and Garrus got Cassidy's bed over there, they both stopped and dug their armor out and put it on. One of the guards suggested that Hannah squeeze in with Melanie, so she did and wrapped her arms securely around Melanie. Melanie's barrier was down. An explosion sounded into the suite and they heard debris hit the interior wall of the suite.

Garrus said, "The window is breached, they could land troops. We need to get off this floor." The elevator rang and the hospital guards took up position targeting the doors. The VI said, "Administrator Besia". The guard captain said, "Open the doors." The doors open and an asari Matriarch held up her hands inside. The guards lowered their weapons.

Besia stepped out and motioned for the beds to go into the elevator. She said, "I'm going to take you to the basement. It is the most secure part of the hospital. I will go with you all. The hospital guards can go down on the other elevator car." Melanie and Hannah's bed was halfway onto the elevator when another explosion cracked the interior wall of the suite and the power went out. Emergency generators went on and emergency lighting came on. "Change of plan." said Besia. She pointed to the guard captain and said, "Get three carry frames, now." The captain turned and went through a door across from the elevators. She handed three folded frames out and the guards quickly got them unfolded.

Adrien helped Hannah into one while the turian guards got Melanie into a double carry and into a frame. Garrus got Cassidy into a double carry with one of the hospital guards while another hospital guard took the IV support off the bed. The got Cassidy and her fluids into the frame and strapped her in. The other hospital guards arranged themselves so there were 4 carrying each frame. Hannah's group got to the stairwell and started down. Melanie's group came next and then Cassidy's. Besia was across from Garrus, on Cassidy's frame. The hallway door closed and Besia locked the stairwell. Another explosion rocked the building. She said, "You all were the only ones on that floor, for which I am glad."

Garrus spoke into his omni-tool. "EDI, where is the turian wing?" "They should arrive in just over 2 minutes. There is another gunship on the map." and with that an explosion rattled the door above them where they had just come into the stairwell.

Two minutes found them between the 11th and 12th floors. The hospital guards were looking winded. Besia signaled a stop and pulled up her omni-tool. She projected the image onto the wall. It looked like an interior view of the hallway looking at their suite. The dead asari was burning and there was a sizeable hole in the wall next to the door. There were Eclipse soldiers in the hallway.

Besia said, "Put the frames on float and get them going down with one attendant each. The rest follow behind ready for action from above." She looked at Garrus, "The frames don't have much battery. They'll get you to the basement, then probably run out of juice. There are wheels tucked up, you can lower them when you need to. Go to B2, through the door and left, then about 200 floor tiles to a black door marked emergency bunker on the right side. Tell the VI to go into combat lockdown. You can pull the frames from in front faster than they will go on their own." One turian guard pulled Melanie's sled on down while the other pulled her assault rifle and led the way. Adrien pulled Hannah's and Garrus pulled Cassidy's. Besia followed Cassidy's with the hospital guards carrying their weapons behind her.

Cassidy blinked her eyes. She saw she was tucked into a metal frame, tilted with her feet downhill, which was swaying. She saw Garrus at the foot, pulling her. She was also floating on pain meds, she could tell. Her neck and ribs ached anyway. She was in a neck brace and what felt like a chest splint. She was firmly strapped into the frame over her legs, her chest and her forehead. She tried to speak and it came out soft and hoarse, "Where are we?" Garrus looked back at her. "Hang on, love. I'll welcome you back more properly when we get somewhere safer than this stairwell."

A bang resounded down the stairwell. Besia said, "They've got through the door up there. Hurry!" They were now between the 1st and 2nd floors. Besia sent a singularity up there, then signaled one of the guards who shot a grenade up to land in the field of the singularity. Then she detonated the grenade, taking down barriers and shields, and by the sound of it, several Eclipse soldiers got caught up in it. Besia kept coming down but after a few beats she sent up a warp to detonate the singularity. The shock wave passed up and down the stairwell.

Garrus shouted to the turian guard up front, "That's the door, B2!" Besia waved her omni-tool down that way and it unlocked. The guard looked back at Garrus and he pointed left. Besia paused just at B1 and motioned the guards to get past her. When the last one had cleared the floor level of the first floor, she waved her omni-tool over her head and thick armor plates swiveled out of all 4 walls to overlap and make a ceiling over their heads.

She said to Garrus, "I'm not going with you, I'm leaving with the guards here on B1. We have to coordinate on the surface with the police. Do like I said. You've got some breathing room now. I'll be back in touch later." And she went out the B1 door with the hospital guards.


	54. Chapter 54

Chapter 54

Garrus got Cassidy's frame through the B2 door. He called out, "Let's stop and lower the wheels on these in case the float power dies." So, they did. The wheels lowered down with a fold out crank. It took a minute before they were down and the frames rolled. They rearranged the order so Garrus and Cassidy went to the head of the line. Garrus counted the tiles and found the right door. The turian guard opened it and swept the room ahead of them. They filed into the room and closed the door behind them. Garrus said, "VI, combat lockdown."

A thick metal wall came up out of the floor and covered the hallway wall, settling into place with a solid thump. Garrus looked around and saw a kitchen, a bathroom, stacks of chairs and cots. Floor to ceiling cabinet units were next to each bed space.

Cassidy croaked, "Could I get some water,please?" Garrus went to the cabinets and found one labeled as cups, lids and straws. He pulled out 7 sets. He put water into one, attached the lid and inserted the straw. He brought it to her and put in the space on the frame meant for that and adjusted it so Cassidy could reach the straw. He went back to get a cup of water for Melanie, but one of the guards had filled several cups already and was working on the rest. The other guard had handed one to Melanie and was tipping her frame up so she could see everybody.

Adrien was helping Hannah out of her frame and into a chair. Garrus took a cup for Adrien and one for himself. He walked over and handed one to Adrien. Adrien motioned to Cassidy, "Would you like your frame tipped up?"

"Yes, please." Cassidy responded. The guard said she would do that, so Garrus dragged a chair over on the other side of Cassidy to complete the circle.

Garrus checked his omni-tool. There was no signal in the room. Adrien said, "It will take them some hours to properly sweep the hospital for any mercs that may have hidden themselves." Hannah asked the turian guards what had alerted them. "Admiral, the supposed cafeteria worker came off the elevator with a cart and covered trays. We told her to get back on the elevator, that nobody had ordered anything. She said she had an order and kept coming. We targeted her and instructed her to get back on the elevator. She grabbed a weapon from under one of the covers and I put up the shield."

Hannah said, "We piped in the camera feed and saw the rest of that." Cassidy finished her water and felt herself drifting back to sleep. Melanie had already done so. Hannah got up and walked to the restroom.

Adrien looked at Garrus. "You need to get them onto the Normandy. We will wait until you jump out of the system, then head back to Palaven. She needs to take her security more seriously. What if she had been carrying a child when that happened, you probably would have lost the child." Garrus nodded, "Yes, sir. I completely agree. She is never stepping into a public cab again, if I can help it." "You need to think about where she's going to stay when she is carrying. I don't think any planet will be safe enough, not even the Citadel. Probably the safest place is the Normandy. I can arrange to have a turian specialist on the Normandy when she's carrying a turian." "Actually, she's going to have to carry two at a time. In order for her to carry a turian, she'll have to have a human right alongside, to enable the support systems to grow to support them both." "I had wondered about how that all was going to be accomplished. Well, with the lives of two children depending on hers, that's just that much more important that she not risk herself to these radical elements."

Hannah came out and said, "I think we should tip these two back to flat, since they've fallen back asleep." The guards got up and did that. Adrien said, "We are going to get everybody back to the ships as soon as we can. I remember you saying you are on leave until your new ship is ready. Can I tempt you to come back to Palaven? I'd like to show you some of our geological splendors, which will involve some long shuttle trips." Hannah smiled, "I want to see Melanie off to Grissom Academy, then, yes, I will come to Palaven." "Good. I will make plans."

Garrus said, "I'm going to stretch out on a cot. Should I grab some for all of us?" Hannah yawned, "I suppose so, we were interrupted in the middle of our night." Cots were arranged, bedding found. Everybody laid down and the VI lowered the lights.

They got a couple hours of sleep before the VI's voice came on, "Communication request from Adminstrator Besia." Adrien pushed himself up, "Request accepted." "Primarch Victus, I am calling to let you know that things have calmed down up here. You have options available to you now. If the injured members of your group wish to remain to continue treatment, we will accommodate you. If you wish to relocate, we will facilitate that." Adrien said, "We wish to relocate." "Then you may now instruct the VI to direct you to the shuttle bay just outside the bunker. You may call for your shuttle to come in at your convenience. Once the VI determines that you all have left, then it will release the lockdown."

Adrien got up. "VI, I wish to access the shuttle bay." A panel opened up on the wall between the kitchen and bath. "There is a manual crank behind the panel that will open a doorway to a short hall, which leads to an empty transportation bay. You may call for a shuttle from there."

One of the guards got up and went to the indicated panel, pulled out the manual crank and started cranking. After a few cranks the door released. The two guards when out the door and down the hallway, weapons out. "Primarch, sir, there is an empty room here with a hangar door. We have signal." Garrus got up, "I'll go call for Cortez to come." Hannah got up and grabbed her bag, "I'm going to go change." Melanie said, "I want to get out of this thing and change, too." Adrien went over and helped her out and steadied her over to a chair.

Cassidy's fluids monitor began to beep. Adrien went over and saw that the reservoirs were at 33%, getting low. Hannah came came out, "We probably ought to get those out of her before they run out completely." Hannah helped steady Melanie over to the bathroom. Garrus came in, "Cortez is on his way, Dr Freilich is coming with him." Adrien said, "Good, then she can do what she needs to with this fluid system."

About 20 minutes later, the VI announced, "Normandy shuttle requests permission to dock." Garrus said, "Permission granted." The sound of the hangar door moving came from the hallway. They gathered up their stuff and Garrus pulled Cassidy's frame out to the shuttle. Dr Freilich got out and came over to check the fluids system. She began turning things off then taking tubes out of Cassidy. She directed a guard to remove the bar supporting the system and take it all back into the bunker. When the guard came back, Adrien had directed Garrus to take the co-pilot seat,then Dr Freilich and Hannah to get in, then he and Melanie. The guards pushed Cassidy's frame into the middle and they boarded last and pulled the door down.

When Cortez engaged the engines to leave, Cassidy woke, her head pounding and pain coming from all over. She looked up and saw Hannah on one side and Dr Freilich on the other. Hannah saw the stress on Cassidy's face and reached up to stroke her forehead and said, "I know, honey. We'll get you to Dr Chakwas soon and she'll hook you up again." Melanie reached in to hold one of Cassidy's hands and Adrien did likewise on the other side.

Cortez said, "The Normandy is docked with your ship, Primarch Victus. The news is saying that two gunships and a troop transport were chased away from the hospital by the turian fighter wing. The fighters then took positions on the roof of the hospital and nearby roofs until the hospital and the city gave the all clear. They are escorting us back."

Hannah checked her messages. "I have a message from Matriarch Kaleera. She says she has obtained new premises on Thessia and she includes the address. She says she gave the Nos Astra city council a piece of her mind." Cassidy smiled and said, "I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that piece of Kaleera's mind." Melanie did a search on her omni-tool, "Here it is, the vid, I'll put it up on the screen there." Dr Freilich said, "Oh my, she certainly does know how to dress for the occasion, doesn't she?" Hannah said, "She sure does, she looks the epitome of Distinguished Outraged Matriarch. Look, the councilors are physically cowering." Adrien said, "I wonder if she was in theater, she's a wonderful performer." Melanie said, "Oh, and the perfect exit, she even flicks them off the back of her skirt." Hannah said, "Pass me the link, Melanie, I want to show this to Solana."

Cortez' landing in the cargo bay of the Normandy was exceptionally smooth, for which Cassidy was grateful. The turian guards got out and pulled Cassidy's frame out and rolled her over to Dr Chakwas who was standing by with an IV bag. Dr Chakwas checked her eyes, and "Oh Cassidy, I'll get this going for you as quick as I can." She got the IV in and flowing. Cassidy quickly felt the effects and relaxed in relief.

Adrien assisted Melanie out of the shuttle. Dr Freilich and Hannah came next, then Garrus and Cortez. Dr Chakwas said, "Why don't you all go down and get breakfast, while I get Cassidy up to the med bay." Garrus came over and said to the guards, "You two go get breakfast. I'll accompany these two." Garrus took Cassidy's hand in his and looked in her eyes and quietly said, "Welcome home, Captain. You have been missed." He looked up to see the others getting in the elevator. James came over, "Hey, Lola, I hear that was not your first crushed Prothean ruin. What was that Jacob said that the batarian said to you your first time on Omega, 'Things explode around you.' " Cassidy smiled.

James took one side of the frame and Garrus the other. Dr Chakwas went ahead to signal the elevator to return.

Garrus said, "Was that Arno?" Cassidy said, "No, um, I think 'Moklan' and there was a salarian, um, 'Fargut'?" Garrus said, "I think I heard Moklan's name once or twice, one of Aria's people." They got on the elevator with Dr Chakwas, went up to Deck 3 then wheeled her into the med bay.

Dr Chakwas was turning the windows opaque. She said, "Leave her in the frame. Wheel it over here. Cassidy, I'm going to do the second bone treatment of your neck then your rib. The splint will have to stay on one more day. Tomorrow we'll do the final bone treatment, then start clearing off your scraped skin, just like we do for burns. Hm some of your bruises are starting to turn color. That's good." She had brought the bone regenerator down and programmed while she had been talking. She brought it down, carefully aimed it and turned it on.

When both fractures were done, Dr Chakwas asked what flavor shake she wanted. Cassidy said, "Strawberry banana." She sent Garrus and James down to breakfast and told them to have Samesh send the shake back up. Dr Chakwas told Cassidy about the small things that had been happening on board while she was missing. How different people expressed their anxiety in different ways. "I think Clowder was relieved to be able to help once there was searching he could go do."

Liara and Solana came up with a strawed cup and a larger insulated container. Solana said, "Hannah showed us that vid of Matriarch Kaleera. Wow, I wish I could have seen her do that in person. Reminded me of my grandmother." Liara said, "I fully understand why the city councilors were cowering. Kaleera certainly knows how to harp on asari insecurities."

Cassidy said, "Do I have to be flat, doc? This would be easier if I could sit." Dr Chakwas considered. "Solana, you know that reading chair in the lounge, could you bring that in here?" Solana said, "Come on Liara" They left, returning with the chair between them. Javik came in, "You asked for me, Liara?" Liara said, "Yes, you and I are going to gently lift the Captain from this frame onto that chair." Dr Chakwas said, "Just a minute, let me prep her. Let's push this frame that way. Good. Now put the chair where the frame was. I'm taking the straps off Cassidy. Solana, see if we can hook an IV holder to that light support pole?" Solana inspected the holder and then the pole, "No problem, its like they were made for each other."

Dr Chakwas checked everything, unhooked the IV holder and nodded to Liara and Javik. They carefully built a joint biotic field around Cassidy with her blanket, but not the frame, then Liara added a bit of lift. They maneuvered her over to the chair then gently down onto it. Cassidy said, "Very nicely done, thank you." She started on her shake. Dr Chakwas handed the IV holder to Solana who got it attached to the light pole on the chair. Javik said, "I will take this frame back to the cargo bay to be returned to the surface." Cassidy said, "Yes, take it down, but let's keep it. Its better than the one in the shuttle. We'll keep this one in the shuttle and the other can go on the bulkhead, for emergency use. The hospital can include the frame in the damages for Eclipse to reimburse." Dr Chakwas said, "Good, it is a very useful design. Be sure to recharge the battery." Solana said, "That looks like an old battery. Later on, I'll see if I can replace with something that can hold more charge."

Javik checked the frame until he figured out how to get it to fold. He carried the folded version out. Adrien came in as Javik was leaving. "I just want to say goodbye, Cassidy. I am returning to my ship now and then to Palaven. I will see you for the ceremony, if not before." He leaned in and kissed the top of her head. She said, "I'm so glad you were there for all of us." "So am I." he said. He shook hands with Dr Chakwas and Liara and exchanged salutes with Solana. Then he left. Cassidy lifted her cup and Solana took it, refilled it and gave it back to her.

Liara started telling about how they got the rockslide off of Cassidy. Melanie and Hannah came in. Dr Chakwas motioned each to a bed. She scanned Melanie first, pronounced her good for light activity. "No heavy biotic use for a couple days, you are still healing." Liara said, "We'll have a light refresher lesson this afternoon and tomorrow." Dr Chakwas turned and scanned Hannah. "Same for you, still healing, another day on light duty for you, Admiral." Hannah joked "I'll keep my biotic use to a bare minimum, and I won't play blitz ping-pong, either."


	55. Chapter 55

Chapter 55

Garrus came in carrying a container of trail mix. Melanie looked around, "Grandma, Solana, Liara, wanna play bridge?" They all agreed and filed out to the lounge. Dr Chakwas said she would go down for breakfast. Garrus brought a tool tray over next to the chair, and put the trail mix on it. He put his hands gently on either side of her head, leaned in and kissed her. She responded in kind. She said, "I missed it all, but you most particularly."

He straightened up and pulled up a chair. "We are expecting a visit from Sways in the Currents and Campbell." "Who are they?" "The two asari Spectres that Councilor Tevos sent to lead the hunt for you. They helped move the rocks off you." EDI said, "Sways in the Currents and Campbell request permission to come aboard, Advisor." Garrus said, "Permission granted. Direct them to the med bay, please." He got up and moved his chair so he was at Cassidy's side, facing the door. He said, "Once we get their report, then we'll head back to the Sol System, return Dr Freilich and her shuttle, get Melanie set up on the Phillipines." She asked, "Is Dr Freilich's shuttle in the cargo bay?" "Yes." "Oh, I didn't notice." "Well, you had other things on your mind at the time."

EDI announced "Spectres Kira Sways in the Currents and Prawel Campbell are outside the med bay." "Open the door," said Cassidy. The two asari entered and Garrus said, "Kira, Prawel, good to see you again." Kira said, "You too, Garrus. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Captain." Kira extended her hand to Cassidy. Cassidy shook it. Cassidy said, "I understand you were sent by Councilor Tevos." Kira answered, "That is correct, Captain.

Kira continued, "We interviewed the girl, Pauline Benson, then tracked down two of the young people that instigated this incident. An asari, Jana Sederis, and a batarian, Yevo, were hiding out in another Prothean ruin on the far side of the volcano. They resisted, but we took them into custody. We searched their omni-tools for further information, some of which we will be pursuing further. We found remnants of your clothing and omni-tool in the campfire. Your pistol was there." Prawel handed the pistol to Garrus. Kira went on, "There were a couple vids on the omni-tools. We checked the operating systems carefully and determined that the vids had not been copied or sent. We transferred them to this OSD and destroyed those memory sectors. We are certain that this is the only copy." Prawel handed an OSD to Cassidy.

Cassidy said, "I take it there's something disturbing on here." Kira nodded. Cassidy took a deep breath and then put the OSD on the table. She said, "Did you find a ring?" Kira answered, "No Captain, there was no indication of a ring, neither on the detainees nor in the vicinity." "Is there anything else?" "No, Captain." Cassidy said, "Thank you both for returning these items and for your fine work so far and your efforts to come. May the Goddess go with you." "We'll be in touch, Captain. Advisor." They left.

Cassidy looked at the OSD. "Dr Freilich, will you come to the med bay, please?" Garrus looked at her with a question in his flanges. Cassidy said, "Dr Chakwas is too close to me to see whatever's on here. I want to limit the emotional damage as much as I can." "So, you don't intend to view it yourself?" "No, and I would rather that you didn't watch it either." "I don't know that my imagination wouldn't be worse, but I can see your point."

Dr Freilich came in. "What can I do for you, Captain?" Cassidy handed her the OSD. "The asari Spectres took a couple vid files off of a couple of punks that were in the same place where my clothing was found in the fire. The asari say its disturbing stuff. I need someone not so emotionally close to me to view the vids and advise Dr Chakwas what she needs to do, if anything. Go find a private place to view that, please." "A wise decision, Captain." Dr Freilich left. Dr Chakwas came in. "Cassidy, something I should know?" "Do a detailed pelvic scan, please. Clear out anything that shouldn't be there. Garrus, get me up on one of the medical beds."

EDI's voice, "Advisor, Sways in the Currents and Campbell have left the ship." Garrus said, "Jump us to the Sol System then."

Garrus moved the table out of the way and Dr Chakwas got the IV holder off the chair. Garrus placed Cassidy on the bed Dr Chakwas indicated. Cassidy took Garrus' hand while Dr Chakwas inserted the internal scanner and set to work. After a bit, Dr Chakwas said, "You might feel a jolt." Then she pulled the scanner out. "I initiated a shedding. You'll cramp and bleed for a while." Cassidy said, "Dr, put a pad on the chair then Garrus put me back like I was." Dr Chakwas said, "So that OSD was something you asked Liz to look at." "Yes, I figured we didn't need to look at it if we didn't have to." Dr Chakwas got a message on her omni-tool, which she checked, then typed an answer back. "That was Dr Freilich. Sit up, Cassidy, I need to look under your splint on your back." Cassidy sat up, and Dr Chakwas opened the splint and took a scanner to her back. She got a scalpel and an injector. She anesthetized a spot back there, then cut into the skin. She handed the injector to Garrus and asked for some small forceps. Garrus found them and handed them to the doctor.

Dr Chakwas wrestled with something in there a bit and used the scalpel and finally pulled out a synthetic something. She handed the forceps to Garrus, "You can figure out what that is programmed to do, if you want." She got the medi-gel and closed up the cut on Cassidy's back and re-secured the splint.

Garrus looked at it and said, "Looks pretty crude, definitely not something Miranda would have done." He cleaned the implant up, then stuck it in a pocket of his armor.

Dr Freilich's voice, "Captain, what do you want me to do with the OSD?" "Destroy it, please, doctor." "Yes, I agree that would be best., Captain."

Dr Chakwas worked on cleaning up. Garrus returned the table with the trail mix to Cassidy's side. He returned his chair to face her. He asked, "Cassidy, are you ok?" "Just feeling tired, Garrus." "Dr, she's gone all pale again." Cassidy slumped unconscious. Dr Chakwas came over and took a quick blood reading. "Damn it, her glucose has cratered again." The doctor called down, "Samesh, prepare a direct liquid high-glucose nutrition package and send it up." She handed a control unit to Garrus, "Attach that to the pole on her chair."

The doctor set up the tubing from the control unit, into Cassidy. Parveen arrived with a tall container. The doctor took it and poured it into the control unit. Dr Chakwas chided herself, "I should have set this up as soon as she got up here. Bone treatments, emotional shock, shedding, surgical extraction. I should have known better." Garrus asked, "Emotional shock, what do you mean?" "Even if she didn't look at that video, she knows something happened, and even the military training can't completely neutralize her visceral emotional feeling of violation. She suppressed it, but that sort of control takes energy."

Dr Chakwas thought about the treatments coming up in the next couple days and made a decision. "Garrus, I'm going to keep her in a medical coma for the next couple days. I need to do the final bone treatments tomorrow and the skin work. I need to get more calories into her than she could comfortably eat while getting enough sleep. I need to keep her energy consumption to a minimum to build up her stores. Look at how gaunt her face and arms are. I should have noticed, damn it."

Garrus said, "I'll go let Hannah know." "Don't let Melanie hear anything about those vids." "Yes, you're right. I'll be sure to talk to Hannah in private." He left.

He went to the lounge where Liara, Solana, Melanie and Hannah were playing bridge. "How's Cassidy?" asked Solana as he dragged a chair to the table to observe. "Dr Chakwas has put her under for the next couple days. Needs to build up her reserves again, which were apparently dangerously low." Liara said, "She seemed alert earlier, what happened?" Hannah said, "You know her. If she's awake, she's making an effort to do something, even if its figuring stuff out. Mental effort takes energy, too." Garrus nodded, "We couldn't get her to relax enough."

They finished the game, with Melanie and Solana winning. Melanie said to Liara, "It's almost lunch time. I'll meet you in the mess, OK? I want to take a quick shower." Garrus said, "Go ahead upstairs to use ours." "Thanks, dad. I will." Melanie left. Garrus said, "Hannah, I need a minute of your time." Liara and Solana got up and left for lunch.

Hannah said, "What didn't you say about Cassidy? There's more to it, isn't there?" "Yes, Kira and Prawel came to give a report. They found a couple punks in a cave where bits of her clothing were in the fire." Hannah leaned back in her chair. "I don't think anyone ever said what she had on when she was found. How was she dressed when you found her?" "None of us but Clowder saw her before we got the thermal blanket on her. Her exposed arm was bare, so I guess I knew she wasn't in the same top she had been to start with, but I wasn't really thinking about that, just on how to get her warm and out of there. When the rocks were off, the doctor and nurse insisted on being the ones to turn her over, under the blanket. I caught that her shoulders were bare but for some straps made of dirty thin material and a cloth bundle tied to one strap. They lifted her biotically, blanket and all, into the carry frame."

Hannah said, "So, what else?" "Kira and Prawel returned her pistol and gave her an OSD they had with vid files they had taken off the punks' omni-tools. Kira told her the vids were disturbing. Cassidy insisted that the only person to look at them be Dr Freilich." "Hmm, well, that's just flies on the shit. We are trained to expect it in capture situations, but its still hard to think of it happening to my daughter. Damn. I'm glad she had the sense to keep those vids out of her head as well as yours, mine and Karin's."

Garrus paused a moment and then asked, "I know, academically, that rape is bad. I mean that I used to hear older turians talk about forcing female humans as a means of humiliation. And in C-Sec we were taught to be credulous and protective when female humans made that accusation. But I don't really get it. Turian females can't be forced, so there's nothing in our culture about it. Can you help me understand better what might go through her head when she wakes up?"

Hannah thought for a minute. "One of the things that rape does is rob the person of her, or his, psychological safety net. We go around, expecting that, in general, things are going to be OK. That I can sit here with you safely and walk among the crew safely and even go into a store on Illium and, in general, be safe. But now, for a while, Cassidy may be, deep down, distrusting of everyone, or maybe of males in general. She might be body shy with you for a time. This feeling of distrust might embarrass her, who has made a point of trusting so many. She might also feel like her body still carries a taint from the violation, so that she may feel disgusting to herself and maybe to you."

Hannah continued, "Think about how you felt when the Reapers first invaded Palaven with troops on the ground. Didn't you feel a sense of violation of your home? A 'how dare they'?" Garrus thought about that and said, "Yes, there was anger and indignation and yes, violation, especially when the turians converted to marauders started showing up." "Well, now intensify that from an 'its happening to us' to a 'its happening to me, personally, inside'."

Garrus shifted uncomfortably in his seat as his stomach did a slow roll. "I think I understand a bit better now. Thank you. But how do I help her without invading her bruised boundaries?" "Stay as close as she will let you. Give her time, but don't back away altogether." Garrus nodded. "Well, shall we go down to lunch?" Hannah got up and walked with him down to the mess.

Lunch was underway, when EDI announced "Docking with the Philippines now. Advisor Vakarian has authorized six hours of leave. Admiral Hackett extends an invitation to all Normandy crew to board and make use of their facilities." Dr Chakwas made a consultation appointment with Dr Handyside, the Philippines' resident psychologist.

Garrus elected to stay with Cassidy while Dr Chakwas went aboard the Philippines. He brought some tools with him and set to hooking it up for diagnostics. EDI offered to do the analysis, but Garrus asked her to let him be. He pulled up the source code and began pouring through it.

Dr Chakwas and Dr Freilich went to see Dr Handyside. "Brian, nice to see you." "Karin, Liz. How are you? Please have a seat. Would you like some tea?" Karin said, "Black tea, please." Liz said, "Do you have chamomile?" Dr Handyside started the teapot and pulled a couple canisters out of a cupboard. He put the canisters and teacups and saucers and spoons and a sugar jar on the table. When the teapot whistled, he brought it to the table and poured three cups.

"So, what are we consulting about today?" Dr Chakwas said, "Captain Cassidy Shepard Victus. She was with her daughter, mother and sister-in-law in a cab when it was involved in an accident. Cassidy was kidnapped from the rescue site while the other three were transported to the hospital." Dr Freilich said, "She was unconscious when kidnapped, and was kept unconscious through drugs after. She was raped and had a synthetic chip embedded in her back." Dr Chakwas continued, "She was then dumped down into a deep cave." "Two days later she was rescued from under a rockslide, in a different part of the cave system."

Dr Chakwas said, "I have completed two of a series of three bone treatments for neck and rib fractures. I have her under a medical coma to restore her glucose reserves with direct liquid nutrition. She still needs skin treatments for friction burns over 40% of her body. She is a powerful biotic."

Dr Handyside pulled up Cassidy's public records. "Her spouse is Advisor Garrus Vakarian, a turian. Where is he currently assigned?" Dr Chakwas said, "He is in command of the Normandy while she is on medical leave. They live on the Normandy." "What does she know about the rape?" Dr Freilich said, "She knows that something happened and that the chip was embedded. She insisted that I be the only one to watch the vids of the incident." "What happened to the vids?" "Destroyed, on her order."

Dr Handyside looked at Dr Chakwas, "You are consulting me because you want her to finish her treatments here on the Philippines?" "Yes, Brian. She crashed in hypoglycemic shock because I didn't restore her nutrition as soon as I should have. I put her under the medical coma, then it occurred to me that she might recover from the rape better here, as well as have better facilities for physical therapy. Also, her daughter, Melanie, will be on this ship at Grissom Academy. If I treat her on the Normandy, she will need to deal with Garrus immediately, she will miss saying goodbye to Melanie and her mother."

Dr Handyside looked at Dr Freilich, "She will be under your care for her physical needs?" "Yes, I will stay and treat her as long as I'm needed." Dr Handyside steepled his hands and thought a minute. "You mentioned that she was insistent that she not see the vids, but she knew where the vids were from?" Dr Chakwas said, "Yes, the Spectres that delivered the OSD told her the vids 'were disturbing'." "What did you observe of her demeanor after learning about the vids?" "She got what I call her 'determined' look and called for a pelvic sweep, then Liz let me know about the chip in her back and I removed that." "Was her husband with her the whole time?" "Yes, he was with her during the Spectres' report and all the way until she collapsed and I put her under the medical coma."

Dr Handyside said, "I'd like copies of all the reports from the Spectres, you two, the rescue teams, Admiral Shepard, Advisor Vakarian, . . . Is there anyone I'm missing?" Dr Chakwas said, "Primarch Adrien Victus was with her in the hospital and back up to the ship before he returned to Palaven. He is her adoptive father." "Noted. Anything else, you want to add, Karin?" "No, Brian. If I think of anything, I'll send a message back."

Dr Handyside said, "When do you plan to revive her, Liz?" "I'm going to follow Karin's prescription, continue the nutrition feed for another 44 hours now. Tomorrow morning I will do her final bone treatment so we can get the splints off. Then I can start the skin work." "I would like to speak with Advisor Vakarian. Will you introduce me, please, Karin?" "Let's go on over then, I need to prep Cassidy for her transfer." The three of them headed to the Normandy.


	56. Chapter 56

Chapter 56

Garrus was leaned back and away from the screen in front of him. "EDI, go ahead and analyze this implant. I can't think straight." "This will take some time, Advisor." He went to the chair at Cassidy's side and took her hand. EDI's voice, "Advisor, Drs Chakwas and Freilich request to bring Dr Brian Handyside aboard." "Permission granted." He got up and started cleaning up the cups that were littered around the med bay.

Dr Chakwas came in with Dr Handyside. "Garrus, this is Captain Brian Handyside. He is the resident psychologist aboard the Philippines." Garrus reached out his hand and shook Dr Handyside's, "Good afternoon, doctor." Dr Chakwas continued, "Garrus, I am transferring Cassidy's care to Dr Freilich and Dr Handyside. Dr Freilich and I are here to prep her for transfer to the Philippines." Garrus' flanges drew up tight, "I see. So, while she recovers there, we will do the Arcturus mission?" Dr Chakwas said, "That is in your purview, Spectre. We do expect that her recovery will be some time."

Dr Handyside said, "We should give Dr Freilich and Dr Chakwas some room. Where can we have a comfortable chat?" Garrus led him out and around into the main battery. Dr Handyside stood opposite Garrus. Garrus growled, "Why? What can be done aboard the Philippines that can't be done here?" Dr Handyside answered, "Boundaries. Hers have been violated on a most personal level. She needs time and space to re-establish her boundaries and the confidence that those around her will respect those boundaries. Even if you are the most patient of husbands, she will blame herself for the agony she feels when she thinks about letting you close, precisely because she feels that she should want to let you close and it should not be painful but joyful. She needs time with people she can legitimately keep at a distance."

Garrus' flanges stayed tight, "How long?" "I can't be sure. Since she was not conscious during the violation and since she did not view the vids, she may have an easier time of it. I generally treat soldiers that had to face their attackers, but there have been a fair number that were drunk at the time or drugged. We'll see. How long will the Arcturus mission take you?" Garrus paced, "Depends. Probably about two weeks." Handyside said, "Like I said, I can't be sure. Also, I can generally tell you that you and she will have issues to work out, to get back on the same page. But, I know from the reports and from her friends that she is a very determined woman, and I know she is deeply in love with you."

Garrus nodded, "I should go pack a bag for her. She will want to swim for physical therapy. She likes to swim." Dr Handyside said, "I'll meet you back in the med bay." They left the main battery.

When Garrus came back down with a bag for Cassidy, he found Dr Chakwas standing outside med bay talking with Hannah and Melanie, who had her bag with her. Melanie came over and hugged him. "I'm going to miss you, dad." "I will miss you too, Mel." He hugged her firmly. He kept an arm over her shoulder and looked over to Dr Chakwas, "Is Cassidy ready?" Chakwas replied, "Yes, we had a gurney brought over from the Philippines and moved her onto it. Now that you're here, we can go."

They all filed over onto the Philippines and over to the med bay, which was much larger than on the Normandy. Garrus took a moment to kiss Cassidy's forehead and whispered, "I will be back as soon as we can. I love you, Cassidy." Hannah took a moment also, kissing Cassidy's cheek, "I'll see you on Palaven, sweetheart." Melanie took Cassidy's hand, "I'll see you tomorrow, mom."

Drs Freilich and Chakwas rolled Cassidy's gurney into the med bay. Dr Handyside took his leave. Garrus looked at Melanie and said, "Let's go get you settled, Mel." Garrus took Melanie's bag. Garrus, Hannah and Melanie went to Administrator Sanders' office.

Kahlee came out and greeted them. She shook Hannah's and Garrus' hands. Garrus and Hannah each hugged Melanie goodbye. Melanie took her bag and went off with Kahlee.

Garrus and Hannah returned to the Normandy. When leave was over, Garrus directed the Normandy to Palaven. Garrus joined Hannah for a late dinner in the mess hall. Liara and Solana joined them. Solana said, "How about a farewell game of bridge after dinner?" Garrus said, "Sure." Hannah and Liara agreed.

James, Javik, Steve and Adams were playing poker with Clowder serving as the dealer when Garrus, Hannah, Solana and Liara arrived. Gabby was on the couch, reading. James said, "So, Admiral, how is our Captain doing?" Hannah replied, "She is having her glucose reserves replenished. She will finish her treatments and physical therapy on the Philippines. Hopefully when you return for her, she will be more than ready to return to command and to you all." Clowder said, "The swimming pool on board the Philippines will be particularly useful to her in her therapy." Adams added, "I saw her in the pool last time we were there. She seems to enjoy it."

Hannah and Solana won the bridge game. Just as they were putting the cards away, EDI announced their arrival at Palaven. Steve said, "I'll meet you all at the shuttle." and he left.

Hannah, with her bag, Garrus and Solana boarded the shuttle. First, Steve landed them at in the Victus' parking garage. Hannah stepped out and Adrien was there to take her hand. A private took her bag. Hannah turned back and waved goodbye, then allowed Adrien to lead her to the elevator down.

Cortez lifted off and headed out to the Haldat estate. Garrus and Solana met Garvin up in his suite. Garvin touched foreheads with each, then inquired, "What is the latest about Cassidy? Solana, your last message said she had been take to med bay on the Normandy." Solana looked at Garrus. Garrus said, "She needed more extensive treatment and therapy, so she is on the Alliance flag ship for that while we go on a mission." "Then her condition must be more serious than you knew, Solana?" Solana said, "They did an initial set of scans in the hospital on Illium but once the attack started, they didn't get to scan her again until they got to the Normandy. Complications arose, apparently." Garrus said, "She's got the best of resources now, so she should recover fully by the time we get back."

Garvin said, "Complications? 'Should recover fully'. Hmm, your demeanor is all closed in and defensive. You are feeling inadequate. She was kidnapped from a crash scene, missing for days. They want her on the flagship because the Normandy doesn't have . . . a psychologist. She was sexually violated?" Solana said, "Father, you are prying." Garrus waved Solana back, "Astute as always, sir. It happened sometime between the traffic crash and her arrival in the cave system where we found her. Admiral Shepard and Dr Handyside both said things about trust and boundaries."

Garvin, "It is a difficult thing, to try to empathize with something you have not experienced. If its about trust and boundaries, I imagine that it may be like having your ship hijacked." Garrus thought back to hearing Joker's first message about the Collectors taking the crew. About how he had kept checking around corners, imagining that a Collector was just out of site. He realized that his sense of comfort and safety on the ship had disapppeared that day. Garrus nodded, "Dr Handyside said that she needs to keep people at a distance for awhile."

Garvin set out a tray of snacks. "So, you're here for a short visit, I take it? Anxious to get your mission completed and get back to her." Garrus said, "Yes, sir. We'll be returning to the Normandy in a couple hours. Admiral Shepard is staying at the invitation of the Primarch." "Is that so?. Hmm. The Admiral seems to be a strong person, much like her daughter." Solana changed the subject, "What's the status of the restoration efforts?" The conversation continued from there.

Garrus and Solana returned to the Normandy and Garrus directed Joker to take them back to the Sol System, then to begin interclusteral jump to Arcturus. Garrus went up to the cabin.

He hadn't cleaned up the room for a few days, so he did that first. Callista twisted herself between his legs. He sat down and she climbed up under his crest and began purring. He checked his messages and there was one from EDI concerning the chip that had been in Cassidy's back, which she had determined was a data recorder, but customizable to determine what signals to record, with a trigger to transmit when in range of a certain signal. EDI said she had the trigger ID filed away and she would alert him if she came in contact with it.

Garrus missed his mother. She would have had valuable advice for him. He pulled up a video she had recorded for him, when she still had more lucid days than not. Just hearing her voice relaxed him and he mostly let her voice wash over him, not really hearing the words this time. He went to bed with her voice still in his mind. Callista curled in his belly and slept there.

–

Cassidy woke. She was tired but not quite as deeply tired as she remembered being. She looked around, confused. This was not Normandy's med bay. She still had the neck brace on, so she couldn't see much beyond the dimly lit bulkhead behind her and monitoring machines. She heard a door open and footsteps, then a male voice, "Captain, I've asked Dr Freilich to come. Is there anything I can do for you in the meantime? Some ice, perhaps?" Cassidy rasped, "Ice, yes, please." The footsteps went out the door.

Cassidy looked to either side and determined she was in a private room. That must mean she was on a big ship, probably the Philippines, she guessed. She felt around on the sides of the gurney with her hands and with the right hand found a control. She lifted the head of the bed some and the knees some.

The door opened and Dr Freilich came into view. She handed Cassidy a cup of ice. "How are you feeling, Captain?" "I have a vague headache, my throat is dry, and my bruises ache in an offhand way. I'm guessing there are pain meds to thank for that?" "Yes, and the report of your growing resistance to sedatives is apparently more true than I was willing to believe." "Are we on the Philippines?" "Yes, your are here for more extensive therapy while the Normandy is on the Arcturus mission."

The door opened again and another doctor came into view. "Captain, this is Dr Brian Handyside, ship's psychologist. You are also under his care while you are here." Dr Handyside said, "Pleased to meet you, Captain, though I expected we would be doing this when you were further in your treatments, and so more physically comfortable." Cassidy explained, "A side effect of my fancy implants from when Cerberus resurrected me, I believe, Doctor. So, you are here as the SOP for a personal violation, I'm guessing." "Primarily, yes." Cassidy asked, "Primarily?" "Well, the Alliance was remiss in your support while you were taking out the Collectors and spectacularly remiss afterward, and then there was a war with galactic civilization riding on your shoulders. So, while we're talking I'll help you any other issues that may come up."

Dr Handyside asked, "Are you comfortable in this position, Captain? It looks to me like you would like your head and knees higher." "A little more folded up would be good, yes, Dr." Dr Freilich asked, "Would a reading chair do, like the one you were in on the Normandy, Captain?" "Yes, please. That was quite comfortable, Dr Freilich." Dr Freilich called for a reading chair to be brought in. "While we're waiting for that, let me scan you again, Captain."

Dr Handyside waited while the scan was done. When Dr Freilich finished, he asked, "What else can we do? Your omni-tool was taken? Let me get a datapad in here for the meantime until you can get an omni-tool of your choice. I imagine Spectres can get some fairly amped up ones." "Being a Spectre has its advantages, yes. Thank you, Doctor." "Order placed, the datapad will come probably before the chair. Now, what questions do you have?"

Cassidy asked, "Melanie?" "She was placed under Administrator Sander's command at the Grissom Academy. Advisor Vakarian and Admiral Shepard saw her off. There are still a few days before the class begins but the other students will be trickling in in the meantime. Melanie said that she would come to visit tomorrow." Cassidy said, "OK".

The VI's voice said, "There is an seaman outside with a datapad for you, Captain." Cassidy said, "Come in." The seaman came in and handed the datapad to Cassidy. She also had a cup with a straw and a tall insulated container. "Petty Officer Tandy says she hears you like strawberry banana, so she made that sort of shake for you, Captain." The seaman handed the cup to Cassidy and put the container on the table next to her. Cassidy said, "Thank Petty Officer Tandy for me, Seaman." "Aye, aye, ma'am." The seaman left.

Dr Freilich said, "Captain, we need to move you to the side to make room for the chair which is on its way." She and Dr Handyside moved furniture aside and pushed her gurney to the side. Dr Freilich opened the door and Cassidy saw a couple burly soldiers with a reading chair on a cart. They lifted the chair and carried it into the room. Then they came over and got on either side of her and gently lifted her, carried her over to the chair and placed her in it. Dr Freilich reattached the machines to a pole behind the chair. Dr Handyside found the chair's control pad and placed it in Cassidy's lap with the datapad. The soldiers went and collapsed the gurney and took it out with them.

Cassidy was stuck in an anxiety attack. Her barrier was up, her heart was racing, she couldn't seem to catch her breath and she couldn't find the threat to deal with it. Her hands glowed blue. Dr Handyside noticed, "Captain?" He looked into her eyes and saw that she wasn't tracking. "Captain, take control, look at us. Your mind is wasting your energy. There is only Dr Freilich and myself here in your room in the med bay. Captain, take control. Feel the cup in your hand, hear my voice, look at your hands, let the biotic energy go."

Cassidy's mind took her back to the Cerberus station, Miranda's voice telling her to get up and get out. Mechs saying "hostile presence detected". She should have a pistol. She had something, but it didn't feel like a pistol. What did she have?

Cassidy's eyes tracked again and she looked at her glowing hands, with the cup of milkshake in them. She looked around. Dr Freilich and Handyside were backing out of the door. "Its okay now, Doctors. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to threaten you."

Handyside walked back in and sat down again. "What did you see, Captain?" "Blackness, at first. I felt threatened, but I couldn't find the threat. Then I was back on the Cerberus base, having no clue why I was there and mechs everywhere trying to kill me." "I suspect it was triggered by being carried, Captain. Your mind interpreted that as a breach of your boundaries."

He continued, "I imagine that your kidnapping involved you being carried, probably not so gently as those gentlemen did, but carried nonetheless." Cassidy said, "I don't remember that, but it makes sense. I was probably lifted from the cab and probably carried to that hole they dumped me in. Dr, if that happens to me from something so simple, then I'm a danger to anyone in the room, biotics or no." "I agree, Captain. Dr Freilich, please make a note that nobody is to touch the Captain, at their own peril." Freilich said, "Marking it urgent."

The VI announced "Admiral Hackett to see you, Captain." "Come in." said Cassidy, her heartrate still somewhat high. She took a strong pull on her shake. Dr Handyside brought another chair up next to Cassidy's chair. Hackett came in, "At ease. Dr. Freilich, Dr Handyside, Captain." Dr Handyside motioned the Admiral to a chair then sat himself. Dr Freilich pulled up a chair on the other side of Cassidy. "Captain, I'm glad you got off Illium in one piece. You are most welcome here on the Philippines. Doctors, report please." Dr Freilich said, "She is scheduled for a final pair of bone treatments in the morning, then skin treatments for two days. Then physical therapy." Dr Handyside said, "She is showing signs of damage from the incidents on Illium. Treatment has begun and will continue throughout her stay with us."

Hackett said, "We have locked down the ship until you are mobile, Captain. No visitors, no guests, except Grissom Academy students. Administrator Sanders will greet the families at the docking tube. They will be confined to their floor, with the exception of your daughter, Captain. We are keeping tabs on her as well. We don't want the Eclipse to have any opportunity to come at any of you while you are healing. Can you think of anything more we could do, any of you?" Cassidy said, "Is the ship equipped with a VI or have you upgraded to an AI?" "VI for now. However, we now have a geth liaison on board, 'Congregation' is his name. I'll ask him to come see you later on." Cassidy said, "I look forward to meeting him."

Cassidy yawned. "I'm sorry, Admiral." "Nothing to be sorry for, Captain, it is, after all, still in the wee hours of the night. I'll come back later in the day, when you're more rested." Hackett got up and left. Dr Handyside said, "Captain, I'll come and have breakfast with you, in about 6 hours." Dr Freilich said, "Let me top off that shake for you. There. Just ask the VI to page me if you need anything. There is a nurse just outside, also. Is there anything else you need?" "I'm good, Doctor. I'll finish this shake and then sleep." Dr Freilich left.


	57. Chapter 57

Chapter 57

Cassidy only managed to sleep a few hours. She fired up the datapad and pulled up Diana's Battlespace program. Apparently, Nos Astra and the hospital were suing Eclipse for civil damages. She linked over and saw different views of the traffic accident. Then she watched a view of the gunships attacking the hospital from a camera in a building across the street.

She asked the VI to relay a request to Congregation to come see her. It wasn't long before Congregation arrived. "Captain Shepard Victus, I am pleased to make your acquaintance. What can I do for you?" "I was hoping you had some time to play cribbage with me and to chat." "Certainly, Captain. I will obtain a cribbage board and cards and return to you shortly." Congregation was gone about 10 minutes, then returned with the board and cards.

As they played, Cassidy asked about the progress of the Selk'nam. Congregation reported that the ship was about 15% complete, working mostly on the primary support structure of the ship at this point. He showed her images from the perspectives of some of the geth workers. Congregation asked her about her experience in the geth consensus.

They were still playing and chatting when Dr Handyside came in with breakfast for two of them. Congregation said, "Captain, I enjoyed our time. If you wish assistance or company later on, please inform me. Dr Handyside." Handyside said, "Congregation." Congregation left, leaving the board and cards on a nearby table. Handyside set up the trays and revealed oatmeal with an array of topping choices. Cassidy chose a little brown sugar and blueberries. She took a couple pieces of bacon.

Cassidy said, "Salt tastes good after so much sweetness." Handyside said, "I can imagine. Did you get any food down in the ruins?" "Somebody sent down a cloth wrapped bundle with a small loaf of banana bread and a plastic cup and toy glow. There was water flowing down one side of the chamber I started in." "Was there any light beyond the glow?" "No. I didn't find the glow at first. It must've rolled out of the bundle when I was fumbling it to get the knot undone. I wondered at first if I was blind. That could happen if the biotic implant gets unseated, so Mordin Solus once said to me."

"What did you do with the glow?" "I explored the chamber I was in and discovered that I could climb up and get into the ruin of the building. There was a rock slide I had to climb up aways to get to a clear floor. The glow didn't last very long. But by that time the chamber below was flooding. So I stuck close to the inside of the outer wall of the building and explored by feel, at least until my energy ran out. It was rather cold down there."

Handyside asked, "How did you contact the rachni?" Cassidy was taken aback, "How did I what?" "The rachni queen sent out workers to search for you. The one on Illium reported a brief contact from you." Cassidy considered, "Hmm. Well, some asari friends have taught me a little bit about putting myself out into the universe and meshing consciousness. So, I tried. I felt a seeking something, but I couldn't sustain the effort, so I didn't know if I had actually made contact or not." "Well, you did." Cassidy said, "Rachni? I'll have to thank her." They finished breakfast.

Dr Freilich came in. "Last bone treatments, then we can get those splints off you. Then you'll be much more comfortable, I think." Handyside cleared the breakfast trays. Freilich brought over the machine. "Lean back into the chair, Captain, and just hold still." Handyside said, "So this putting yourself out into the universe, is that something the asari do commonly?" Cassidy said, "No, its a very personal act and takes quite a bit of energy. Its not quite like making love, but its that level of trust. In fact, the asari use a deeper version of that to reproduce, with or without the physical component."

Handyside kept her talking while the bone treatments went on. Finally, Freilich said, "Alright, Captain, sit up so I can reach the back of those splints." Cassidy pushed herself up and Freilich removed first the neck splint then the rib splint. "Now Captain, you are still on bed rest until I get your dermal regen going. However, if you would like to shower, feel free, just remember you are still using energy at a tremendous rate to heal, so take everything very very easy." Freilich took out all her tubes. "I'll come in to do the first stage of treatment before you get out of the shower. Then I'll hook you back up when you're ready." Handyside said, "I'll come back for lunch, Captain." He left. Cassidy carefully pulled herself to a stand, waited until her dizziness passed, then held onto Freilich's arm for a few steps until she got to the bathroom where there was a rail to hang onto.

The hot water felt fantastic. She just luxuriated in the spray for a bit. Then she looked her skin over. She sighed, there was more healing to be done here than there was after Rannoch. No wonder Freilich was keeping her on bed rest. She soaped up, rinsed, then washed her hair.

A knock on the door. Dr Freilich's voice, "Captain, are you ready?" "Yes, doctor, come on in." "Turn the water off. You might want a pain block for this." "Alright." Cassidy turned her back to the doctor, and Freilich inserted a needle just under her skull at the back. Then Freilich pulled out a hand machine and gently worked on taking off the damaged outer layer of all the friction burns and scabby scrapes and cuts. Then she started covering them all with the lattice layer in which the new skin would grow. "Here, gently blot yourself dry. No rubbing. There's a clean gown in that cabinet. Once you're back in the chair, I'll take the block out and get you hooked up again."

When Cassidy made it back to the chair, she was feeling depleted. Freilich took the pain block out and Cassidy sucked in her breath at the pain coming from her skin. "I'll get you hooked up again, just a moment." When Freilich was done with the tubes, she came with a different machine and irradiated each lattice spot on her skin, front, back and sides. That done, Freilich helped her get her blankets on and a neck pillow so she could rest comfortably. Cassidy was exhausted and dropped directly asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Her sleep was dreamless for awhile, just the deep rest of the exhausted. Eventually Cassidy dreamed. She was in the theater, on the couch, alone. She looked around a saw lots of people, but nobody she knew. She looked at the screen which was showing her dream scenes from back when she had felt chased by Kaidan. There she was reaching the cliff top with him climbing below. The spooky music came on and she got goosebumps, starting to feel that hunted feeling again, but she couldn't move, the couch had grown arms, which were keeping her from getting up.

"Captain, wake up! Captain! You are dreaming." Cassidy opened her eyes, but didn't make full sense of the scene around her. She felt the need to run and turned to stand up. A sharp smell, someone was trying to drug her; she put barriers up and pushed with a throw at whoever was in front of her. "Oh my god, Ray, are you okay? Security to the med bay! Captain Shepard Victus threw a nurse into the wall." She heard Kaidan's voice, getting closer. She felt the tug of tubes keeping her from moving away from the chair. She pulled them out.

She advanced toward the door, but tripped over something. She rolled out the door and came to her feet again. Kaidan was instructing his helpers to flank her. "She's heading out to the exit door!" She sensed another door. She prepped a warp for whoever or whatever might be on other side. But the warp didn't quite come together and she felt the blackness come up and engulf her. She fell unconscious.

When Cassidy awoke, she was on the couch, she saw her room was dimly lit. She was hooked up with tubes. She had a massive headache and felt like she had no energy. The VI announced, "Dr Handyside requests entry." "Come in." The door opened and Handyside met her eyes before he came in with a cart. "Well, Captain, it seems a nurse learned the hard way that he should always check the chart first. He will be fine, once his concussion and broken clavicle and arm are treated."

Cassidy asked "What happened?" "His compatriot said they saw on the monitor that your heart rate was climbing. They took it on themselves to come in and try to wake you. The injured one happened to be in front of you when you biotically threw him backward, impacting with the cabinet, then the floor. The other backed into the corner and called for security. You made it out this door and were about to go out the next door, biotically prepped, when you collapsed from energy depletion. The guard just about had a heart attack hearing that you were coming."

Cassidy said, "I was dreaming about an old feeling of being hunted. Then that dream meshed with a new one where the threat wasn't old anymore and I felt the need to get out. I'm so sorry." Handyside said, "The Admiral has made it crystal clear to all the medical staff that nobody is to touch you and he said that if they forgot that and you killed them, he wouldn't shed a tear. Also, there are no longer guards on the outer doors of the med bay." "Because if I had made it out there, I would have acquired a weapon." "That's what the Admiral said. He said that if you get out, that everybody is to get out of sight. Even if you get to the flight deck and want to take a fighter, that nobody is to get in your way."

Handyside brought the cart up. "How does lunch sound to you? I believe it is chili today." Cassidy said, "Yea, I could eat. Now that I think about it, I'm starving." Handyside set up the tray on the table and she set to eating. "Tell me about the 'old feeling of being hunted'." "It was on the first Normandy. Lt Kaidan Alenko thought he was in love with me. He was the proverbial puppy dog, there was no convincing him that I did not return his feelings. I had dreams that he was hunting me." Handyside punched something up on his omni-tool and nodded. Cassidy said, "Yes, I left him on Virmire. He gave his life to make sure that Saren's base went up in a blast, while we escaped the shock wave."

Handyside took another bite. Cassidy said, "Ashley was with the salarians. I saved them along with her. I did the right thing." "But kicking a puppy always feels wrong?" Cassidy nodded, tears appearing in her eyes, but not falling. She resumed eating. "I guess I'll always wonder if I was using the salarians as an excuse to erase the hunt."

Handyside asked, "When did you know you were attracted to your husband?" Cassidy replied, "During the hunt for Saren. He and I were friendly, worked together easily, but he didn't show any signs that I could see, so I kept it to myself. He says he didn't know his heart was given to me until I died." "How do you think Kaidan would have reacted, had he lived to see you married to someone else?" "Honestly, I don't know. I want to think he would have been brotherly, but I can't dismiss the idea he might have let some jealously live on. I think he tried to be honorable, so he would have tried to be brotherly."

Handyside said, "If Chakwas and Freilich can't keep you under for more than a day, how did Cerberus keep you out for two years?" "Jacob said I was nothing but meat and tubes to start with. Apparently there was a lot of me that needed restoring. Just doing some skin takes a lot out of me." Cassidy dug into her fruit & yogurt parfait.

The VI announced "Cadet Melanie Vakarian requests entry." "Come in." The door opened and Melanie stepped in wearing a rust colored jump suit. She struck a modeling pose and spun around. Cassidy smiled, "Cadet, come and give your mom a hug." "Aye, aye, Captain." said Melanie. Melanie came close and Cassidy drew her in, kissing Melanie's cheek and accepted Melanie's neck hug and cheek kiss. Cassidy let her stand up. "You look so grown up, honey." "Thanks, mom."

Melanie looked back at the door where Ashley was standing. Ashley said, "Captain, I'm going to take the Cadet here to the Citadel for the afternoon. I thought I might pick you up a new omni-tool. She can bring it to you when I drop her off?" "Thank you, Ashley. Yes, get me whatever they are producing for the Spectres now." Ashley said, "Will do, Captain. Good to see you awake. Come on, Cadet." Melanie waved, "Bye, mom. I'll see you later. We're going to have dinner on the Citadel." Cassidy said, "See you later, Mel."

Handyside said, "She seems to have accepted you very well." Cassidy said, "The adoption was her idea. I got the feeling she really didn't think being a ward was permanent enough. She felt the need for a new family. I'm happy to meet that need for her. She's a lovely girl, inside and out."

Handyside asked, "What is her relationship with Commander Williams?" "Ashley took her in as a roommate when she transitioned out of her troop and into our crew." "She transitioned because she's a biotic?" Cassidy nodded. "If Grissom Academy had been running and accepting new students at the time that we rescued the troop, we might not have even transferred her guardianship from the troop. I'm glad it turned out this way. I cannot now imagine my family without her. I'm even worrying about her first break-up and she doesn't even have a boyfriend yet." Handyside smiled and so did Cassidy.


	58. Chapter 58

Chapter 58

The VI announced, "Admiral Hackett requests entry." "Come in." Handyside pulled up another chair. Hackett said, "Captain, Dr. Handyside. When that nurse is on his feet again, I'm reassigning him groundside. Not your fault, Captain. He was showing reckless tendencies before that and its his fault for ignoring the posted warnings. I hope he's learned his lesson, but either way he'll be thinking about it down there."

Cassidy said, "Speaking of reassignments, if you have a talented young propulsion engineer, I'll have room to train one in the next 5 or 6 months until Daniels Donnelly goes into labor." Hackett replied, "I'll put the word out, Captain. Somebody from the Crucible project might be interested, though your mother would know that group better than I." "Well, I might ask the quarians also." "That's a good idea, Captain. I'll pass along any names I find and you can make your own choice. It will be good to let some of those kids know that there is real competition out there."

Hackett continued, "Captain, I was glad to hear that you and Congregation were able to get acquainted this morning. I would like you to be Congregation's consultant on upgrading our VI to an AI. I spoke with Captain Yaniss last week about Evette. He is very pleased with her and has come to think that every ship should have such advantages. I have authorized him to return here so you can have secure access to Evette if you deem it useful. The geth have added the necessary horsepower computing-wise and we were just waiting to be able to talk to you about this. So, now you're here, we might as well move forward." Cassidy asked, "Do you have any preconceptions about name?" "Not really, Captain. You can do what you would like with that." "Yes, sir. How old is the Philippines?" "She's one of the newer ships, came out of dry dock 5 years ago."

Hackett got up. "I've got a meeting to get to. Do you have dinner plans?" Cassidy looked at Handyside. Handyside said, "Dr Freilich and I will be meeting for dinner, so the Captain is free as far as I'm concerned." "Good, I'll escort you up to my quarters and we'll have dinner. I'll come for you myself. See you later, Captain."

Handyside turned back to her, "Would you like a roll around the running track? Get a change of scenery?" Cassidy said, "Don't you have any other clients?" "Well, when our unfortunate nurse comes to then I'll need to go chat with him, but the docs think he'll be out past dinner." Cassidy motioned at her attire, "If I'm going out, I want to be in sweats, not this gown. I see my bag is over there."

Handyside asked, "Should I leave while you change, Captain?" "Just look the other way. I may need an arm to lean on." Handyside put her bag on the chair and she dug out her black N7 sweats. She got them on okay, with a little help from him to keep the tubes from getting kinked. When she was ready, he went to get what looked like a go-cart. He moved the machines over to the cart and steadied her as she walked over and got settled in it. He showed her the controls and out they went.

He took her across the passageway to the exercise area and they went around the track a couple times. The runners on the track saluted her when they passed her the first time. Handyside took her up on the elevator to a garden area and he sat on a bench in an alcove and she parked the cart to face him. "Its pretty in here." she said. Handyside reached out and plucked a spinach leaf off a plant. He rolled it up and bit off a bit to chew. "Captain, you don't seem to have any problem when you are in control of touching or inviting it, like with me helping you with your tubes. You had no problem with Melanie. Now, I want to try something. I want you to think about your husband touching you, intimately, when he was in control."

Cassidy nodded and closed her eyes. She pulled up the feeling of Garrus, behind her. His hand coming under her waist band, under her top. One hand cupping a breast, the other dipping down to her clit. Her breathing got deeper.

Handyside said, "OK, Captain. Any feelings of anxiety, anything but anticipation?" Cassidy blushed a little. "No, doctor. Nothing but desire, missing him." "That technique is not completely predictive, but is usually indicative. You won't be able to tell for sure until you are actually in that situation. I recommend that you take control the first time you are intimate again. That said, it seems, tentatively, that your issues are just with strangers. We may not be able to do much about that in the time we have here, but we will make an effort."

Handyside said, "If you will excuse me for a few minutes, Captain, I am going to find the facilities in here. Do you have your datapad? Good, you do." Cassidy watched him go around the corner. She turned the datapad on and looked up the games. She chose a cross-word and began filling it in.

"Captain? There you are." said a young voice. "Petty Officer, what can I do for you?" "I need to refill your liquids, Captain. Just a moment, I'll bring my cart here. It is pretty here, isn't it?" The petty officer went off. Handyside came back and sat on the bench. The petty officer brought her cart, changed the containers in the reservoirs, then left.

Handyside asked, "How much contact did the Alliance let you have when you were confined after the destruction of the Alpha Relay?" "Garrus and I were able to exchange a few messages in those 6 months. Nothing from anyone else, besides my mother, who came and took me out for a week. Several of my friends tried to send messages, but the messages never got passed to me."

Handyside noted the change in her expression, "Captain, what are you feeling now?" "Anger. There was an agent from spec ops that questioned me over and over, every which way about my time when I cooperated with Cerberus. It was so frustrating. Being disbelieved, accused of collusion with terrorists, betrayal. That, after being 'the disgraced Spectre', accused of being weak-willed, deluded by Saren and then by Cerberus.

Cassidy continued, "And now, the Leviathans are out there. They are the ones that made an AI that eventually made Harbinger and lately controlled the entire staff of that asteroid mining colony for ten years. The people didn't have any clue that ten years had gone by when we rescued them. The one Leviathan that talked to me pretty much said that they would continue in that way, demanding tribute in exchange for 'care', once the Reapers were gone. I'm not going to push. People are weary of galactic threats, grieving for family, trying to re-establish civilization. But I'm keeping an ear out."

"What you mean by 'in exchange for care'?" "Its worse than slavery. The Leviathan takes over your mind and so does what it wants with your body. You don't get to experience anything, learn anything. You don't communicate with anyone, no contact with your family, friends, lover, nobody. Unless, of course, the Leviathan wants to know about that, but then again that's the Leviathan doing, not you. Years of life, just gone, stolen. Those miners, the Leviathans used them to do research on all of our species. They call us 'thrall species'. To their way of thinking, their mind control makes them superior because they can control others. Just another 'might makes right' brand of bullshit."

Cassidy continued, "But, I'm sorry, I didn't answer your question. The Leviathans tended to the physical needs of the miners for those 10 years. They were well fed, but not overweight, physically healthy in appearance. That was 'care'. Just as you have to maintain a ship to keep it in service, the Leviathans maintained the miners to keep them doing the research."

Handyside said, "I should get you back before Admiral Hackett comes for you." He got up and walked out of the garden. Cassidy drove her cart and followed him. In the elevator, she hit the button for the mess hall. She said, "I want to get a snack, I'm starving again." She went up and chose a soup & sandwich tray. She secured it on her lap and went with Handyside back to the elevator and up to the med bay. Back at the med bay, Dr Handyside asked, "Is there anything you need at this point?" "No, thank you, doctor." "Then I will see you for breakfast in the morning, Captain."

After Handyside left, she dived into the soup & sandwich. She barely tasted the turkey and bacon, she was so hungry. Dr Freilich came in, "I want to a scan before the Admiral comes for you, Captain. You need to undress completely. Let me know if you need assistance." Cassidy needed help with tube management, but she got undressed and scanned. Dr Freilich said, "I'm going to keep up the liquids for tonight. I'll scan you again tomorrow as part of the dermal regen treatment and I hope to see better glucose stores." Cassidy opened her bag and pulled out a set of fatigues and dressed again. She was getting settled into the cart when the VI announced Admiral Hackett.

Cassidy said, "Come in." The admiral stepped into the room and said, "I see you're ready, Captain. Excellent, shall we go?" Cassidy spun the cart in place and went out into the passageway. Hackett came out and walked next to the cart for the trip up to his quarters. "Its a small gathering tonight, Captain. Us, my XO, Anderson and Sanders, Lieutenant Waverly, our flight deck manager, our chief engineer and Congregation."

Hackett waved Cassidy in before him into his receiving room. Anderson said, "Shepard! Good to see you recovering!" Kahlee brought her a plate of assorted hors d'oeuvres_. Lt Waverly brought her a glass of punch. __Cassidy asked, "Lt Waverly, how are the girls doing?" "Excellent, for the most part, Captain. We have had one of the girls sent for treatment due to a suicide attempt at the school and another is having difficulty with the curriculum, probably a grief-related lack of focus. The older girls that joined the Alliance seem to be doing well with their training."_

_Hackett came over with an officer Cassidy didn't recognize. "Captain Cassidy Shepard Victus, this is Captain Lee Carruthers, my XO." Cassidy reached up and shook Carruthers hand. Carruthers said, "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, Captain." Another officer came up. Hackett said, "My flight deck manager, Captain Tarin Woo." Cassidy shook hands again. Congregation came up, "Nice to see you again, Captain." Hackett brought up another officer, "Captain Anita Rodrigues, our chief engineer." Cassidy shook hands once more._

_Woo pulled up a chair and sat next to Cassidy. "I watched your adoption ceremony. That Kaleera you wore was fantastic." "Thank you, Kaleera basically put it on me in the dressing room and said, 'Wear this'." "um, Do you mind if I ask you a personal question? I'm hoping you might give me some advice, please. I really like one of the new engineers, he's a turian. We have met for lunch a couple of times. How do we figure out, um, if we'll allergically react to direct contact?" Cassidy replied, "My husband and I, once we agreed on hooking up, on the advice of a salarian doctor, got some edible oils from an adult shop, one levo and one dextro. We tested licking the oil off the skin, and waited a few minutes between tests to see if we reacted: looked for hives, monitored our basic live signs." "Thank you, I'll see about getting some of those oils if things keep going in a positive direction for us. That eases my mind, I was worried about getting too close too fast without a plan."_

_Cassidy asked, "What's his name, this turian you like?" Tarin blushed slightly, "Commander Juran Arterius, he was one of the turians that crash landed in an escape shuttle on Earth. He went back to Palaven with all the other turians, but he applied to be assigned back here in a cross-cultural exchange. He says his family were killed in the first Reaper attack on Palaven." "I can see why he would want a change of scenery." "Yea. My family are on Terra Nova. I'm lucky that way." "Hopefully, if your relationship gets that far, he and your family can accept each other." "I don't know about my grandfather, but everybody else should be okay with him, well maybe not everybody else, but my mom and my brother should be good with him."_

Cassidy said, "My father-in-law really doesn't like Spectres, but he puts that aside for the sake of family peace, when I'm there." Rodrigues and Waverly came over. Waverly said, "My grandmother didn't want me dating anyone outside the Catholic faith. She'd probably disown me if I came home with anybody not human on my arm." Rodrigues said, "Its my mother, in my case. She's pushing for an Earth-born human, if you can believe that."

Kahlee came over, "Are we having a girly chat over here?" Cassidy said, "Just comparing which members of our families are xenophobes." Kahlee said, "Well, I have an announcement. David and I are going to be married." Cassidy said, "Congratulations! When?" "Next weekend, here on the ship. Cassidy, will you be my matron of honor?" "I'm honored. Count me in, but no garishly colored dress, eh?"

Kahlee said, "There's a seamstress on the Citadel now. We'll go in a couple days and see what she can do. Oh, and I followed your fine example and adopted a boy. His name is Jared Billingsley, he's 7 years old. His parents were on Earth. His school class was touring the Iowa. There's a small school now here on the ship."

Cassidy said, "I'm glad you adopted, Kahlee. How are Jared and David getting on?" "That's a work in progress. Jared wouldn't leave my presence for the first few weeks we were together." Rodrigues said, "Then one day, Jared was in line for dinner and my new engineer, a turian, comes in and gets in line. Jared's eyes were as big as saucers. Juran gets his tray and comes to ask if he can sit across from the boy." Woo said, "Kahlee said, 'Sure, welcome.' and Jared asked what had Juran done in the battle. So Juran told him about his ship and how a Reaper beam got his ship and how he rode down to Earth in the escape shuttle and the ground battle and then all the Reapers going belly-up." Kahlee said, "So Jared was star-struck. He goes now to have breakfast with Juran every morning before his lessons."

Cassidy asked, "Jared wasn't star-struck by Anderson then?" Kahlee said, "I think maybe Jared thinks the resistance didn't do enough to keep his folks alive. He's harboring some twisted idea like that and he keeps David at a distance. But since David is administering things groundside, they aren't in contact a whole lot."

A musical tone rang out and Hackett said, "The dinner buffet is ready. Help yourselves." Waverly asked, "Can I get your dinner for you, Captain?" "Call me Cassidy and yes, please." "OK, I'm Rhonda. I'll be right back." Waverly was back fairly quickly with a tray that she put on Cassidy's lap. Anderson came and sat next to Cassidy and Hackett took the other side.

Anderson said, "So, did Kahlee tell you about our wedding next weekend?" "That she did, Anderson. Congratulations." Carruthers came up and took a chair facing Cassidy. Anderson continued, "Lee here is my best man. We were shipmates way back when in the First Contact War." Carruthers said, "I was in academy a couple years behind your mother, Captain. I had a crush on her my first year, but she only had eyes for your father." Cassidy said, "That's how she tells it, too. She knew he was the one right from the start."

A screen came down. Hackett told Cassidy, "We're going to get a live stream of an asari chamber music concert on the Citadel." The view came on, showing the garden area of the Council's audience chamber. The musicians mostly had stringed instruments, plus a couple of woodwinds. They began the intro to their music.

Rodrigues asked, "Cassidy, do you play bridge?" "Yes, in fact we had about a half dozen players on the Normandy. Now that Melanie's at Grissom and Hannah's going to the Selk'nam, it will be harder to get a game together. I'm going to have to screen for an interest in bridge when I bring new crew on board." "Would you care to play now? Normally its Tarin here, me, Lee and Brian Handyside, but Brian is dining with Dr Freilich, I hear." "Sure, there's a table over here. Would you like to get up on the chair or play from there?" "I'll get up into the chair, but I have to stay tethered to my fluids, so the cart can't go far."

The bridge players got themselves arranged. Anita spread the deck. Lee and Cassidy drew low, so Lee sat across from Cassidy to partner her. They had an enjoyable game, but Cassidy was feeling tired by the end. Tarin said she would escort Cassidy back to med bay. Cassidy thanked Hackett for inviting her up.

Back at the med bay, Cassidy and Tarin said their goodbyes. Cassidy went in and debated sleeping right there in the cart. But she figured there wasn't enough head support, so she made the effort to get out. She rolled herself into the reading chair, propped the pillow around her neck, pulled the blanket up and dropped off to sleep.


	59. Chapter 59

Chapter 59

Cassidy woke. She saw the cart was gone, and the machines had been moved back to the pole behind the chair. She looked at the table next to her and there was a package with a note. She reached out and picked those up, putting the package on her lap and opening the note. "Hi mom, I got back from the Citadel and came to see you, but the nurse said you were sleeping. She let me in to leave your omni-tool here for you. Ashley said that its 'as bare-bones as you like'. I'll come back tomorrow some time. Love you, Melanie."

Cassidy opened the omni-tool and got it mounted. She pulled up the screen and began customizing it. She would have to wait until the Normandy came back for her to access her backed up files. About an hour later, she had it nearly where she wanted it. She contacted Congregation. About 10 minutes later, the VI announced Congregation and she let him in.

Congregation said, "Hello Captain. How are you?" "I'm okay, thanks, Congregation. Let's talk about converting the ship VI into an AI." "Excellent. We have upgraded the processors and added databanks, so the hardware is ready, though I think the AI will want other upgrades later. The VI has an extensive memory of ship files extending back to its creation over 5 years ago. It already has a library of Alliance files. Is there other info you believe it should have in storage right away?" "No, the VI already knows how to run the ship. What we are more concerned about would be its personality. We tend to think of ships as female, so it should be a she. Evette turned out very nicely, but she had access to EDI to fill in any blanks that the geth couldn't do for her." "I can access Evette via FTL communications, Captain."

Cassidy said, "I'd rather that the Baton Rouge come here if they're available." "Evette says that Captain Yaniss says 'Hello' and they're on their way." "Alright, while they are on their way, let's wake up our new friend." "Uploading Legion's personality suite. What do you want to call her?" "How about 'Chesa'?" "Acknowledged. Please wait. What voice?" "Corazon Aquino" "Searching, applying . . ."

"Hello, Captain Cassidy Shepard Victus. I am Chesa." Cassidy said, "Hello, Chesa." "Captain, how should I introduce myself to the crew?" "Like you did just now with me. Begin with Admiral Hackett, if he is awake." " . . . Admiral Hackett is pleased at our progress." Cassidy said, "Chesa, can you see the Selk'nam?" "Yes, Captain. The geth are putting the decks in." "Patch your view to my omni-tool, please." The request for contact came up on Cassidy's omni-tool and she accepted it. She watched as geth laid panels over the exposed life-support, power, and communications infrastructure. Congregation said, "They are nearly to the point where they can activate the AI for the Selk'nam, Captain. What do you want her to be called?" Cassidy replied, "Kiepja"

Cassidy asked, "Shall we play some cribbage, Congregation?" He got the board and cards and set up the game. Cassidy was up 3 games to 2 when Chesa said, "Captain, Dr Handyside has brought breakfast." "Let him in." Congregation said, "I will put the cribbage materials away and leave you, Captain. I will be in touch as need be concerning Kiepja." Cassidy said, "OK, talk to you later."

Handyside wheeled the breakfast cart in and set up the trays. Cassidy had french toast with maple syrup. Handyside said, "You have apparently been busy this morning. Why does Chesa sound like she does?" "We used the voice of Corazon Aquino, a Filipina hero. So the accent is that of a native filipina speaker." "So, matching the AI to the name of the ship?" "I figure if we are using ship names to honor areas of Earth, we should be consistent about it." "It will take a little adjustment from the old VI voice, but I don't mind. I think the voice is quite appropriate."

Handyside asked, "So what is Kiepja?" "That's going to be the name of the AI on the Selk'nam." "And Selk'nam was?" "A native nation in place before it became Tierra del Fuego." Handyside changed the subject, "Who did you meet last night?" "Your bridge group, Lee, Tarin and Anita. We managed to get one game in before I started nodding off. Rhonda Waverly and Anderson were up from Earth. It was nice to get a report about the troop we rescued, though I'm sorry to hear that one of the girls tried to commit suicide. Sanders was there, too. She asked me to be matron of honor at their wedding next weekend."

Handyside said, "I look forward to playing bridge with you sometime then. So, after this traffic accident that wasn't an accident, I imagine that your freedom of movement on planets or the Citadel is going to be severely curtailed." Cassidy thought about that for a moment, "Certainly no more cabs, I can see that. Which means that Steve Cortez will be doing some additional time in the shuttle when we go groundside. I'm not sure beyond that. I know that Garrus will have some ideas along that line and we'll have a discussion about it. I'm not going to give up planetary visits altogether."

Handyside looked at her thoughtfully, "Tell me about a typical day when you're between missions." "Breakfast meeting with Dr T'Soni. I teach martial arts in the morning. Have lunch with the crew. Games in the afternoon, usually ping pong, volleyball, or laser tag. Sometimes cards, board games or video games. Dinner with Garrus. Movies or more games in the evenings" "So, physical contact would occur during martial arts and maybe volleyball." "Yes, I suppose so."

Handyside said, "Chesa, what martial arts classes are meeting during the next two weeks?" "There is a jiu jistu class, they are working on purple belt. There is also an open tai chi class. There is no instructor aboard, besides Captain Shepard Victus, for the form that she practices, Doctor." Handyside said, "Well, Captain, I don't think wrestling would be a recommended activity for you at this time. It will be another day at least before you will be able to do any exercise, so I will have some time to think about what to do."

Chesa said, "Dr Freilich is outside, Captain." "Let her in." Dr Freilich came in, "Good morning, Captain, Dr Handyside." "Dr Handyside, if you would put that screen up, I need to have the Captain undress for the treatment." Handyside put up a privacy screen. Cassidy took off her clothes for the scan.

Handyside said, "Captain, tell me in detail what you felt when you first woke up after the traffic accident." "I was cramped, stiff, cold, thirsty, hungry and blind." "You didn't mention pain." "I generally don't notice low-level pain, like from bruises and small scrapes and burns, general everyday battle wounds type of stuff. Besides, my bone and skin upgrades mean that a small scrape to me would be an oozing, aching, stinging scrape to anyone else. The cramps and stiffness were probably painful, yes, but nothing I needed to worry about."

Handyside asked, "Think back, what could you smell?" Cassidy took herself back into that cave, the darkness, the hard floor, the rock digging into her hip. "There was water vapor in the air. Blood, something moldy, dank, some old feces." "If you smelled blood, it must have been fresh, bleeding." "I don't know, I concentrated on finding the water first." "Alright, so sounds, then." "The falling water, that's all I heard."

Handyside thought for a moment. "When was the first time you tried to extend your mind down there?" "After I drank some water, I paced out the dimensions of the room and noticed an air current above the water flow. I sat down and tried to extend my mind. I found a burrowing animal that was hungry, but nothing else. I slept after that."

Freilich said, "I still need to run this over the dermal patches, but then I'm taking your tubes out, Captain. Now, I can't emphasize this enough, if you overextend yourself today, you'll have to go back on the tubes. So, you can do a little walking to and from the elevator. You can watch people exercise, but do none yourself, not even your practice forms. No biotics at all. If you wonder if it might be too much, don't do it. Don't get in any pools or the shower for another 24 hours, either. And eat, all the meals and snacks in between."

Freilich continued irradiating the dermal patches. Handyside said, "Chesa, what room has been assigned to the Captain?" Chesa replied, "612. I will guide you if necessary, Captain." Freilich said, "Alright, Captain, I'm done. Let's get these tubes out . . . Go ahead and get dressed, then you can go. I'll expect you here for a final scan tomorrow after breakfast."

Cassidy put her fatigues back on and put the cribbage board and cards in her bag for return to the game room. She stepped around the privacy screen and Handyside took her bag. He said, "Let's go put this in your room." Cassidy walked with him to the elevator. When the 6th floor came up, she discovered that 612 was only two doors down. He put the bag down next to the door and she opened the door, took the bag inside then got the cribbage board and cards out.

Handyside said, "How about the mess hall? You don't have to walk far, we can talk, they can bring you snacks from time to time." "Sounds fine to me, I just want to return this to the game room first." Handyside motioned her back to the elevator and they went to the game room, then the mess hall. Handyside held her chair out for her at a corner table, then went to the galley, returning with tortilla chips and salsa. He put the food in front of her and sat across from her.

Handyside said, "Going back to where we left off. After you contacted the burrowing animal, you went to sleep. Did you dream anything you can remember?" "Not that time, but the second time, I dreamed a series of memories, the first from fighting a yahg and being sent tumbling, the next from when I was overpowered by a Reaper device and was carried to a med bay and stripped. Finally, I dreamed about a story somebody told me about her sister who's boyfriend came on too strong during a walk in the woods. Knowing what I know now, I'm guessing my mind was trying to tell me what had happened."

Handyside asked, "In between the first and second sleeps, what did you do?" "I explored the floor more carefully, on my hands and knees. I found the cloth bundle, with the cup and the bread. I ate the bread and drank some water." "After the dream, did you dwell on it in your thoughts, trying to make sense of it?" "No, because the chamber I was in had begun to flood. The water was just over my toes when I woke. Luckily, I found the glow and was able to see enough to climb up into the ruin. The rest of my efforts were all about getting out of the ruin."

Handyside said, "OK then, where were you when you first woke outside of the ruin?" "I was in a carry frame, floating down a stair well with Garrus pulling me." "What did you feel at that point?" "Relief, warmth, curiosity, concern, aching pain." "Concern over?" "What were we running from?" "Aching pain from?" "Neck and ribs." "Where did you go from that stairwell?" "Into a basement level, then down the passageway aways and into a bunker that they locked down." "How long were you awake down there?" "Not long. Garrus got me some water and after I drank that, I fell back asleep."

A cafeteria person came over with a chocolate shake and the insulated container with more. Cassidy started on the shake. Handyside said, "Any more dreams up to that point?" "Not really." "Where were you when you woke next?" "On the shuttle. Melanie found a video of Matriarch Kaleera's diatribe against the Nos Astra city council. It was a hoot." "Who is Matriarch Kaleera?" "The dress designer. We were at her shop just before the cab and the accident." Handyside said, "I don't picture you as a designer dress sort of person." "I'm not. My sister-in-law knows that too, so she insisted we find a dress designer to make all the decisions for us." "That had to be on Illium?" "Palaven is a supreme disaster zone. As bad as Earth. Thessia is still reeling. Illium was somewhat intact."

Handyside asked, "What's this ceremony all about, with the designer dresses?" "It the formal form of turian marriage. With us there's the civil union, which is the legal part, and then there's the social and/or religious ceremony, in which the civil union gets included. With the turians, a couple can get the civil union, but if the family rejects the request for the spouse to join the family, then that's as far as it goes and the spouse then cannot take the family name. If the family approves, then there's this big ceremony to bring the spouse officially into the family."

Cassidy continued, "Ours is going to be a double family ceremony. The Vakarian family is going to accept me and the Victus family is going to accept Garrus. Its all going to be all over the entertainment and gossip sites, I'm sure." "Why not keep it private?" "We kept the human ceremony private. In return for her cooperation, I promised my on-board reporter that she could report the family ceremony after the war was over."

Handyside said, "Back up a second. An on-board reporter?" "Diana Allers, Battlespace?" "I guess I never really connected the dots. That's how she got interviews in your cabin on the Normandy?" "Yep." "Nice fish tank." "Thanks, we like it. So does the cat." "A cat? You have some unique policies on your ship." "I'm a Spectre."

Handyside shrugged, "That covers a lot, doesn't it?" Cassidy said, "My favorite time of using that line was to a lawyer. I was seriously tempted to kill his scum of a client, but I did not. I had Yoda in my head, 'That way, the Dark Side is." Handyside laughed.


	60. Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Cassiy finished off the snacks, stood up to stretch, then returned to her seat across from Dr Handyside. The cafeteria worker came over and took the empty chips basket and the empty salsa bowl and left a plate of warm pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. Cassidy took one and concentrated on enjoying the heat and the tastes. She said, "Take one, they're absolutely delicious." Chesa's voice came on Cassidy's omni-tool, "Captain, Melanie is asking for your location. Should I give her the information?" Cassidy looked at Handyside, who nodded. "Yes, Chesa, give her my location."

A few minutes went by and Cassidy saw Melanie come in with another girl cadet. "Hi mom, Dr Handyside. This is Cheung Huiqing. She is my roommate." Cassidy shook Huiqing's hand, "Nice to meet you, Cadet." "I am pleased to make your aquaintance, Captain Shepard Victus." "Where did you grow up, Huiqing?" "My family ran a restaurant on the Citadel. We evacuated and ended up with Admiral Hackett's group over Virmire. They are almost ready to re-open the restaurant on the Citadel." "I look forward to eating there in the future." Huiqing nodded and bobbed.

Melanie said, "I'm glad you're out of the med bay, Mom. And I like Chesa, did you name her, like Evette? I want to name one some time, can I, please? Did you get the omni-tool and my note?" Cassidy said, "Yes, I named Chesa. I don't know when I'll name another, we'll see. Thank you very much for delivering the omni-tool and I appreciate the note." Handyside asked, "What are you two up to today?" Melanie said, "Its our last free day before classes. We're going to climb the wall, come back and have lunch, then I'm going to teach her to play bridge if I can find enough players. Will you be available, Mom?" "Just a moment, let me take a pic of you two, to show Dad when I see him. There, nice. Yes, I'll be available to play and Dr Handyside here plays as well. Would you be up for a tutorial game this afternoon, Brian?" Handyside said, "Yes, Melanie, I will be your 4th." Melanie said, "Great! We'll see you after lunch. See ya!" Melanie reached in and took two muffins, put one in Huiqing's hand and they went out of the room.

Handyside said, "Melanie's quite a chatterbox, isn't she?" "She was the first one to see our shuttle when we landed on Bekenstein. I swear she went on for minutes before I got a word in edgewise to tell her to breathe and start packing." Handyside said, "Your bruises are at that stage of purple, green and yellow. The ones on your face are making your Victus pattern stand out in contrast." Cassidy used her omni-tool to take a picture of her face and then she pulled the image up to look. "Hmm, you're right. I mean for the pattern to be faint, noticeable but not screaming. I'm sure Melanie is explaining the whole thing to Huiqing."

Cassidy took the insulated container and poured herself some more chocolate shake. Handyside asked, "What will your answer be to the xenophobes that ask you why you're abandoning humanity for the turians?" "I'll say that love and personal bonds happen with personalities that are not limited to humankind. They won't believe me or respect that line, but I'm not going to argue with tin ears."

Cassidy excused herself to the restroom. She was wondering if Handyside was asking about the xenophobes because of something in the news. She pulled up her omni-tool and did a search. Sure enough, a group of humans had filed claim to Hudson, Michigan and its surrounding area and was pushing to run it as a cooperative, with provisions than no land or housing would ever by sold, rented, or passed on to any non-human or any family unit containing a non-human, also only humans could be hired to work there or be guests there. The ACLU had filed suit to have those provisions declared unconstitutional. The forums were frantic with activity over all this. Oh, and there it was, her name came into it, talking about her 'turian heresy'.

Cassidy returned to the table. Handyside was just putting their trays on the table. He said, "I asked Chesa to talk with Evette about what sort of things you had for lunch on the Baton Rouge when you were there. So, I hope my choices for you are acceptable." Cassidy looked down at her tray. There was tomato basil soup, grilled cheese, salad with apples and pecans, a brownie, and iced tea. Cassidy said, "Thank you, this all looks and smells delicious."

Tarin came by with Juran, "Hello Cassidy, Brian. Are we intruding?" Handyside said, "No, we're just having lunch." Tarin said, "Cassidy, this is my friend, Juran. Juran, this is Captain Cassidy Shepard Victus." Cassidy said, "Pleased to meet you, Juran. Won't you both join us here?" Tarin and Juran took the other two seats at the table. Juran checked out the faint Victus markings on her face, "I'm honored to make your acquaintance, Captain. Tarin tells me that the colors all over your skin are signs of healing injuries. I hope you recover quickly, it looks painful." Cassidy said, "Lots of bruising comes with being taken down by the front edge of a rockslide. I'm over the worst of it, it looks worse than it feels."

After lunch, Tarin and Juran went back to work. A cafeteria worker brought a bowl of trail mix, setting it next to Cassidy, and took the empty trays. Melanie and Huiqing came. They spent a pleasant few hours playing bridge.

Then Melanie and Huiqing excused themselves to go have dinner with their class at Grissom.

Handyside escorted Cassidy back to her room, telling her that he would see her after lunch the next day. Cassidy went into her sitting room and found a paper wrapped package on the coffee table. She opened it to find two sets of new fatigues, for which she was grateful. She decided to go to the armory and see what was available.

In the armory, an ensign was at the counter. Seeing Cassidy approach, he stood and saluted, "Ensign O'Leary, Captain." Cassidy saluted him back. "Show me your pistol selection, Ensign." O'Leary waved her over to a cabinet and pulled up a screen for her to browse the selection. She chose a couple and said, "Where's the shooting range?". He took her to a door and motioned her through there. She set up a target, took the first pistol, inserted a thermal clip and took aim. The action in her hands was familiar and calming. She changed pistols and repeated with another target. She looked at the analysis results and decided on the first one. She left the range, returned the second pistol and signed for the first one, then hooked it to her hip.

She got a message from Lee Carruthers, asking if she would care to join him for dinner in the mess hall. She accepted and went to the mess hall. When she got there, he met her at the door and led her over to the line. She chose lasagna, garlic bread, garden salad, fruit salad, chocolate cream pie and soda. Lee led her over to a two-person table.

Lee said, "I see you chose my favorite pistol." "I usually carry a geth plasma SMG and an Incisor sniper rifle on mission, but for between missions, this pistol is one I have come to favor. Its familiar now. I don't really feel right without something." "Comes with the territory. I hear you and Melanie taught her new roommate to play bridge this afternoon." "Huiqing caught on fairly quickly. I think she'll be a proficient player soon."

Lee went on, "Chesa is an interesting personality. She is much more flexible than the VI and I'm finding quickly that I much prefer her over the VI that was." Cassidy replied, "EDI has been indispensable to us on the Normandy. She has become a good friend and colleague."

Lee said, "We've had a reassignment request that I think you should consider for the Normandy, Cassidy." "Oh?" "Lieutenant Emory Norquist is a med tech working on his medical degree. He has asked to be assigned under a ship's medic with experience in treating multiple species. Now that the Normandy has a larger capacity for crew, it is appropriate for Dr Chakwas to get an assistant. I've sent you his service record. He's currently on Terra Nova." Cassidy said, "I'll have a look at it tonight, let you know after that."

Lee asked, "There's a volleyball game tonight. I know you can't play yet, but its the flight jocks vs the marines. Thought you might be entertained. I'll bring some caramel popcorn for you." "Sounds good. I think that would be fun." "Alright, game's supposed to start an hour from now." They finished dinner.

Cassidy went to her room to check her messages. There was one from Kahlee saying she would like to take Cassidy to the Citadel on a dress errand in the morning. Cassidy replied that she would be ready after her doctor appointment. Chesa said, "Captain, there is delivery person outside your door." Cassidy opened the door and there was a seaman with a vase with a single red rosebud. There was a card tied to the vase. Cassidy accepted them and took them in, setting the vase on the coffee table. She read the note, "Cassidy, I hope you are doing well. I arranged for this to be delivered on your first day out of the med bay. I miss you lots and so does Callista. I love you. Garrus."

Cassidy started a note on her omni-tool, "Garrus, I got the rose and your note today. Thank you for arranging it. I am not allowed to do anything beyond walk around a little bit. But its better than being stuck on bed rest and fluids, which was my situation up until this morning. I met Melanie's roommate, Cheung Huiqing. She is a lovely girl. Remind me to send you the pic I took of the two of them today. We taught her to play bridge today. They start their curriculum at Grissom tomorrow morning. I know you won't get this right away, so I'll add on daily details and send it when there'll be no delay."

She pulled up the file that Lee had sent on Lt Norquist. He had good reports from his commanders, good aptitude scores on his medical training application. She decided she needed in-person determination.

Cassidy saw that it was almost time for the volleyball game, so she got up and went out. She got there and Lee was waiting for her, a big paper bag under his arm. He led her up into some stands that had been erected next to the volleyball court. He led her up by Tarin, Juran and Anita. He handed her the bag, which was warm. She unrolled the top and could smell the warm caramel popcorm. She started in on it.

The match was three games to win. The play was fast and hard. The rivalry between the fans of the teams was loud but good-natured. Eventually, the marines took the 2nd, 3rd and 5th games to win the match. Cassidy's fingers were sticky from the caramel, but she discovered a towelette packet attached to the bag. Anita suggested some bridge, but Cassidy was feeling tired, "Another night. I'm going to call it a day." She thanked Lee for inviting her and for the popcorn.

She returned to her room, cleaned up, then went to bed.

Cassidy slept deeply, but eventually came up a bit and dreamed. She was in the theater, alone on the couch. The screen was showing a view from the 10 Forward lounge on the Enterprise of Star Trek Next Generation. Data was behind the bar. In the theater, there seemed to be nobody else in the room, but then she heard someone crying. She got up and looked along each row. Way in the back she found a boy, face buried in his arms, crying. She went into the row in front of him, "Hey, talk to me." He lifed his head to look at her, tears streaking his face.

"I didn't want to come here. I need to go back. Wendy doesn't understand, she's alone now. I wish I didn't have biotics." He buried his face again. Cassidy reached out and touched his arm, he didn't move.


	61. Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Palaven: "Welcome, Primarch Victus and Admiral Shepard. Your guide is waiting for you." The coordinator led them to a hatch and they climbed down into the submersible. They took seats in the back and the guide's voice came over the speaker. "Primarch, Admiral, I am Hinser Nilax. Our outbound trip will be twenty minutes before we get to the gorge. Disengaging docking clamps. And we're on our way. If you need me, you can press the speaker tab on the comm panel, otherwise I leave you to your privacy."

Hannah said, "I have truly enjoyed the past few days, Adrien. Palaven is a truly lovely planet." Adrien said, "I know that what I saw of your Earth was only the blasted ruins of a major city. Tell me about what you would want to show off there." Hannah said, "I think I would start us with an Artic tour, looking at the polar bears and sea lions and icebergs and glaciers. We would be in a heated tour vehicle, of course. Then I would take you to the redwood forests and walk along the coast of the ocean, then not far away to a walk in the caldera of an ancient volcano. There is a lovely walk along the cliffside of a great river gorge as well."

Hannah continued, "I would have to bring you back at different seasons to see the mountains and the forests and plains in each season. Winter: when the world whispers in white and deep green of the coniferous trees, the deciduous trees stark in their leafless state. Spring: when the crash of the storms resonate in your body and the rivers rush full and spread over the land, fertilizing it, then the flowers spread riotous color everywhere and the trees spread a light green canopy overhead. Summer: when the hum and buzz of life surrounds you and the young flora and fauna grow in the lazy heat; the leafy canopy grows deep green leaving cool shade below. Autumn: when the harvest comes in, the air is cool, the apples are crisp and tart and sweet, the pumpkins huge, and the trees put on an awesome display of reds, oranges and yellows."

Adrien said, "You clearly love the outdoors of your planet." "I grew up near one of the Great Lakes. My father and I took trips just to walk around and enjoy the land and the seasons and the local towns. Not, like Cassidy, who grew up on ships. She feels comforted by the confines of a ship. I always still feel a bit closed in on ships."

Adrien hesitated and said, "Hannah, I must confess. I booked this tour we are on now because it the only one that gives us true privacy. I am sure you noticed the attendants and security personnel that are always on the fringes everywhere I go. Hannah, I have come to care for you and I am hoping that you share the feeling."

Hannah took Adrien's hands in hers. She said, "I have not felt this way since I first met Benjamin. I care for you, too, Adrien." Adrien lifted his hands and cradled her head, bringing his forehead in to touch hers. Hannah reveled in the heat of his hands and his head on hers.

She said, "The down side to this form of privacy is that help for an allergic reaction is too far away." "Yes, I suppose we do have to be careful in that regard. We have been in each other's close proximity for much of the past few days, neither of us have exhibited respiratory symptoms from breathing in the shed cells of the other. So, that's a positive sign, yes?" Hannah said, "Yes, that's an encouraging sign." He lifted his arm and she moved over to sit next to him, his arm around her, his other hand clasped in her hands.

They stayed that way throughout the tour of the underwater gorge, the windows filling with fantastic forms of the coral and other fauna and flora that lived in the depths between the steep walls.

That evening, in the Victus residence, Rahana left for a night out with her friends. She said as she left, "I will not be back until morning." Adrien ordered dinner in. When they got down to dessert, he said, "I have been reading an extranet article by Dr Mordin Solus. I met him briefly while he was working on the cure for the genophage. His advice to check for allergies is to start by the turian taking something levo on his finger and the human licking that off of his finger, then vice versa. Care to try?"

Hannah smiled, "Is that why we have desserts with sauces?" Adrien said, "I try to plan ahead." Hannah dipped her finger in the sauce on his plate and presented it. He took her fingertip gently into his mouth and licked the sauce off. His tongue was hot, raspy, thin and strong. She withdrew her finger and said, "So now we wait a few minutes to see if allergic symptoms manifest?"

Adrien said, "Tell me about hair. You have yours twisted and clamped in place. I have to figure that there are no nerves along the fibers?" Hannah said, "No nerves, except where the fibers grow out of the skin. If we pull too hard, it hurts in the skin. If we pull hard enough, the hair comes out of the skin." Adrien took her hand and looked at her arm. "This fine hair here? All humans have it?" Hannah said, "Some have darker hair there."

Hannah said, "You aren't showing any allergic symptoms." He took a bit of sauce from her plate onto his finger and presented it to her. She took it into her mouth and licked it off. He was amazed at the mobility of her tongue, the way it molded around his finger, soft yet strong. He could feel the heat rising up into his crest.

Adrien made an effort to focus, to wait for possible allergic symptoms in Hannah. He said, "So, Cassidy keeps her hair short. How?" Hannah said, "The hair is just chains of protein. We can cut it." She took out the clips that kept her bun in place. She fluffed it out so it fell below her shoulders. He reached up and ran his fingers through the strands. She leaned in and kissed him. He held still, taking in the sensations of her warm, malleable, strong lips against his.

He said, "Hannah, will you be with me this night?" Hannah replied, "I will." He got up and took her hand. She stood and followed him to his room.

He closed the door behind her, then turned to her. She reached up and undid the clasps of her top. The top gaped open, showing her bra underneath. He pushed her top open and pushed it off her shoulders and down her arms onto the floor. He looked at her unmarked neck and longed to mark her as his. He knew then his heart was hers.

He pushed the bra straps aside. She reached around back and unhooked the bra and took it off. She reached up and kissed him again, her hands cradling his head. She pushed her tongue between his lips and he relaxed his jaw. She pushed her tongue inside and explored his mouth and tongue with hers.

He took his top off, then the rest of his clothing. He reached over to a drawer and took out a condom. She shed the rest of her clothing. She took the condom from him and came up to him. She eased the condom over his cock and stroked him to get it unrolled all the way down. His hands on her shoulders were getting warmer and stronger, his breathing deeper.

She motioned him to lay on the bed. She straddled him on her knees (thank goodness for knee replacements!) and lowered herself and took hold of his cock so it was at her entrance. She sank a bit onto him, them more. Bit by bit she eased herself onto him and took him all the way in. He pulled her down then rolled them so he was over her. He took hold of her waist and stroked gently, watching her reaction. She said, "Come on, rascal, I'm not made of glass." His subharmonics purred and stroked hard, she said, "That's it!"

He stroked hard and quick and came before he wanted to. She pulled him down next to her and put her forehead against his. He said, "You deserve more, my desire." She said, "We've been working up to this for days, love. We'll take our time now, eh?"


	62. Chapter 62

Chapter 62

Cassidy woke about the time she would have normally on the Normandy. She got up and changed, then went down to the mess hall. She got blueberry pancakes, bacon, orange juice, and hash browns. She looked around and didn't see anybody she recognized, so she went to a table along the side. She pulled up her messages and saw one from Lee, saying that Lt Norquist was being reassigned to the Philippines immediately. She heard youngsters coming in and looked around to see the Grissom students filing up to the line. Melanie and Huiqing nodded at her, she nodded back, then returned to her omni-tool.

Dr Freilich approached her table, "Captain, may I join you?" Cassidy closed her omni-tool, "Please, doctor, have a seat." Freilich said, "I am being reassigned to the Selk'nam when she's ready. I'm going to return to my previous post until then. My pilot and I will be leaving after I clear you." "I'm sure Hannah will be happy to have you on her new ship."

Freilich said, "Brian said something about there being a new AI over there." Cassidy said, "Chesa, please give us a view of the Selk'nam." Cassidy pulled up her omni-tool, as did Freilich. The outer hull was being attached. Chesa said, "Kiepja is grateful to be, Captain. She is sorry you cannot come aboard yet, but she is looking forward to speaking with you directly once life support is running. She is conversing with me and Evette and the geth while her ship is being constructed." Cassidy said, "Tell Kiepja that I'm looking forward to meeting her."

When Cassidy and Freilich finished breakfast, they went to the med bay. Freilich conducted the scans and pronounced her dermal regen to be finished. "Captain, I'm placing your status as medical leave for another 48 hours, then light duty for the 48 after that. I'd like you to ramp up slowly to your usual activity level. I mean slowly, Captain. Pay attention to your energy level and eat. Don't get too focused that you forget to eat." Cassidy finished dressing, then gave Freilich a hug, "Thank you for all your efforts for all of us, Liz." "It was my pleasure to help out Karin and to see Hannah again and to meet all of your new family, Cassidy."

Cassidy went back to her room and took a quick shower. She dressed again, making sure her pistol was securely on her hip, then went to meet Kahlee at the flight deck. Tarin came over and said, "Hello, Cassidy. Kahlee is over in bay 3 already on the shuttle. They're waiting on you. Enjoy your time on the Citadel." Cassidy went over to bay 3 and boarded the shuttle. Kahlee said, "Hello Cassidy. So are you done with the med bay?" "Med leave for 2 more days, then light duty for 2 more after that." "Well I hope visiting the seamstress won't be too stressful."

Cassidy said, "I'm surprised you are taking this morning off from the Academy, this being the first day." Kahlee said, "I find that I like to leave the instructors to do their own thing the first morning. I'll be there this afternoon to take care of any administrative issues." "How's Jared?" "He's adapting, going to class again now."

They arrived on the Citadel and the shuttle when down to a parking area on the Presidium near the seamstress' shop. An asari greeted them, "Oh, Administrator Sanders, Pirisa is expecting you. Please go on to the back." Kahlee and Cassidy went back. Pirisa said, "Captain Shepard Victus! Welcome back! I helped you and your mother with your wedding dress, back when, well it feels like another age ago, doesn't it? Welcome, Administrator Sanders. I have a selection of wedding dresses ready for you to consider."

The spent an hour choosing dresses and getting fitted. Cassidy ended up with a maroon colored strapless full length evening gown. Kahlee's dress was similar in style, but in white. After the seamstress, they went next door for Kahlee to choose flowers.

While Kahlee was making her final arrangements with the flowers, Cassidy went out and went up to an Avina terminal. "Hello Captain Shepard Victus. Spectre status recognized. What can I do for you?" "Where is the restaurant run by the Cheung family?" "The Cheung family owns and runs 'Chopsticks', which is re-opening today. It is located at 104 in the blue sector. Do you have another inquiry, Captain?" "How much of Zakera Ward is habitable now?" "The habitable area of Zakera Ward has been extended from 5% at your last query to 6.13% currently. The keepers are primarily working on finishing the Presidium, though apartment buildings in Zakera Ward have a high priority."

Cassidy returned and met Kahlee walking toward her. Cassidy said, "How does Chinese sound for lunch?" "Oh, did you find Huiqing's family restaurant?" Kahlee led her back to the parking area where an Alliance driver was waiting for them in a sleek car with the Alliance logo. Cassidy said, "You have an Alliance car assigned to you?" Kahlee said, "No, you do. Hackett's orders. You won't be taking cabs anywhere anymore." Cassidy sighed.

Cassidy and Kahlee got in and told the driver where to go. They went in and were greeted by a woman that Cassidy guessed might be Huiqing's mother. "Administrator Sanders! So nice for you to come. It is our re-opening day! And Captain Shepard Victus, so pleased to meet you. Our Huiqing has told us about rooming with your Melanie. Please sit here. I am Jia. I will bring a very nice lunch for you."

Jia brought out wonton soup, egg rolls, crab rangoon and hot tea to start. Cassidy stopped her for a moment, "Jia, I have a picture of the girls. I'll send it to your omni-tool if you like." Jia said, "Ok, Captain, I'm ready. Oh, they are so lovely. Thank you so much, Captain!" Jia went off to the kitchen. Another pair of humans came in and a boy in his tweens came out to seat them.

Jia brought out rice, sweet and sour pork, cashew chicken, seafood delight and General Tso's beef. Cassidy enjoyed a portion of everything, as did Kahlee. Jia brought out almond cookies and dried figs, saying, "It is our pleasure to feed you today, our treat." Cassidy said, "It all was very good. I will come again and bring others. Thank you. It was my pleasure to make your acquaintance, Jia." Kahlee said, "Very delicious, Jia, thank you. Yes, I'll be bringing David here sometime."

They went out and the driver took them to the shuttle dock and they went back to the Philippines. When they docked, Chesa said, "Captain, Dr Handyside asks that you meet him in the garden." Kahlee said, "I'll see you later, Cassidy. The kids will be released for free time after dinner, but I'm sure I'll have work to do this evening."

Cassidy went to the garden. Handyside was waiting in the passageway by the door. "Captain. Did you have a good time on the Citadel?" He led her inside and over to a section where miniature fruit trees were being cultivated and over to a picnic table there. Cassidy said, "Apparently Hackett has disassociated me from cabs on the Citadel, and presumable everywhere else as well."

"Do you think this hinders your ability to operate as a Spectre?" "Not really. My Spectre activities usually involve the shuttle. I'm sure that if I need to grab a cab somewhere, I will. Otherwise, dress shopping was survived, lunch was excellent." "Where did you eat?" "Chopsticks, on the Presidium. Huiqing's family owns and runs it."

Handyside pursed his lips in thought, "Captain, did you dream last night?" "Yes, why?" "Do you mind telling me about it?" "No, it wasn't embarrassing or anything. I was in an old-fashioned movie theater. Its a place I often go to in my dreams. This time, at first I thought I was alone there, but then I heard crying. I searched and found a boy, maybe 14 or 15, in the back row of seats. He was unhappy about being separated from someone named Wendy. I tried to comfort him a little. That's about it."

Handyside said, "I was called to talk with a grief-stricken boy last night. He's one of the Grissom students. He says he hallucinated last night in his grief. He said he imagined he was in an old-time movie house and he called up your image and you came, asked him to talk about it, then put your hand on his arm. 'Looked just like her', he said." Cassidy rocked back, her mouth open. After a moment, she said, "How can that be?"

Handyside considered, "He might have a talent. He probably unconsciously sent his mind out, crying out for help, much like you consciously did in the ruin. Your mind in the dream might have been receptive and offered shelter to his. This is just speculation on my part. But the question now is, what do you want to do about it?" Cassidy asked, "What do you mean, do about it?"

Handyside replied, "Well, until he gets training to keep his thoughts to himself, he might seek out yours again, since he found comfort there. Do you want him invading your dreams? Do we tell him that he actually reached the real you?" Cassidy asked, "Does the instructor understand this ability? Will he be able to reign himself in anytime soon?" Handyside said, "Administrator Sanders is contacting our embassy on the Citadel to see if the Asari embassy can send in a consultant to teach him. It might be days."

Cassidy said, "I don't understand the process well enough to be comfortable trying to guide a talented youngster in it. Like I said, the asari consider sharing thoughts to be intensely personal, but the rachni do it as a matter of course, but not as equals as I understand it, which I really don't. Let's let him make his own sense of it for now. If he comes again, I'll try to direct my dream as best I can." Handyside said, "OK, we won't say anything just yet, but if it becomes a problem for you, you need to let me know right away, even in the middle of the night." "Alright."

Handyside said, "So, what was playing in this movie theater?" "Star Trek Next Gen. The scene was a nighttime scene in 10 Forward. Nobody there but Data behind the bar. At least, that's what I saw at the start. Once I started searching for the crying, I didn't notice what was up there."

Handyside thought. He said, "In an earlier conversation, you said you saw images of prior memories. Were those in the theater on the movie screen?" "No, at first I was in first person, tumbling from a hit. The other two places, I was watching from above, within the scene." Handyside nodded.

Cassidy saw a basket of peaches on a nearby cart. She got up and took one. She looked back, "You want one?" "No, thanks." She ate the peach on the way back to the table, enjoying its warm juiciness.

Handyside said, "What are your plans for this afternoon?" Cassidy said, "I haven't thought that far. Freilich said to go slow on ramping back up to my usual activity level. So, maybe I'll work on my martial art forms, those aren't too energetic." Handyside said, "Well, if I don't hear from you tonight, I'll see you for lunch tomorrow." Cassidy said, "OK, tomorrow lunch then." She walked out of the garden and went to the exercise area.

She found an empty mat near the climbing wall. She took off her boots and socks, rolled up her pant legs, then went to the center of the mat and began with white belt form. She was in the middle of blue belt when she heard a voice at the edge of the mat, "Keep that leg up longer, Captain!" Cassidy recognized the voice of her first instructor. She struck the pose again, holding it longer, then flowing into the rest of the form, being more conscientious of the details of hand and foot position. She finished and bowed to him.

She said, "Master Klein, you honor me." He replied, "I am pleased to see you practicing, Captain." He joined her on the mat and motioned her to sit with him. He said, "I have been called here to assist you in your recovery, Cassidy. Tell me about your current limitations." "I had depleted my stores of energy and now I'm replenishing myself. These past few days most all of my energy went into healing, but now I can begin to resume my activities, slowly my doctor says. She put me on medical leave for today and tomorrow, then light duty for the two days after that." "So, before today you did nothing more than walk around a bit?" "That's correct, sir."

Klein stood up and so did she. He backed up and said, "Purple belt form, your count." She bowed to him and began. He stopped her in prep to a high kick and came up, put his hands on her hips and corrected her hip position. Her vision grayed, barrier went up, stinging his hand. She held herself in tight position working to come back, stop the biotic energy building up. Finally, sweating, her vision cleared, the biotics flowed away, and she brought her leg down. Klein looked into her eyes, "Sit down, Captain, right where you are." She sat down, grateful for the reprieve.

Klein said, "Dr Handyside and I have been consulting. I am also a licensed psychologist, so I have been brought in to assist mentally as well as physically. We suspected that you might have some such reaction, even though I am not a stranger. Your control was exemplary, but we are hoping to get you to a place where you don't retreat mentally, wasting energy on a defense you know you don't need." Cassidy nodded.

Klein said, "Go take a shower then meet me in the mess hall." "Yes, sir." Cassidy put on her socks and boots and went to her room. Once she was in the shower, she found herself shaking, feeling anxiety in general, and a worry that she might freeze out Garrus. She threw up.

She stood under the hot water until she could get herself together. She got out, dried herself and dressed again. She went to the mess hall.

Klein was at the corner table with a tray for her and a sandwich for himself. She sat down and saw creamed wheat with various toppings. She put on butter and sugar, then downed it all and a couple sausages on the side. Klein asked, "You are feeling some anxiety, Captain?" Cassidy nodded, "It was worst in the shower, but there's some residual." "I'd say now you are more aware of the damage to your ability to trust. The natural instinct is to retreat, keep such encounters from happening at all. I can see that you are afraid you'll retreat too far, keep your husband out. Is that accurate?" Cassidy said, "Yes, sir.".

Klein said, "I hear you have made some friends aboard ship. Join them this evening, doing whatever. Just don't be alone after dinner." "Yes, sir." She finished her tray, gathered it up and took it to the return rack. She decided to go lose herself in a video game for a couple hours.


	63. Chapter 63

Chapter 63

Cassidy quit the video game when her timer went off. As she withdrew her head from the game universe, she found she was calm. She checked her messages, saw one from Tarin, inviting her to join in for dinner, then for bridge afterward. She cleaned up the room and went to dinner.

Tarin, Anita and Lee were at a table. Cassidy collected some turkey tetrazzini, green beans, pumpkin chocolate chip bread, and a yogurt fruit parfait. She joined their table. Tarin said, "There was a competition among the pilots this afternoon as to who would get to be your pilot next time you go off the ship, Cassidy." Cassidy asked, "How did they compete?" "They did simulated head to head fighter battles." Cassidy said, "I'm not sure when I'm going off ship next." "Well, now they know who will be your pilot when that time comes. They were unhappy that I just picked somebody who happened to be on shift this morning."

Cassidy asked, "Where's Juran?" Tarin replied, "He's having dinner with Jared. Juran says bridge isn't his thing." Lee asked, "Who is this Colonel Dr Charles Klein that came aboard this morning? He's listed as part of your medical team." Cassidy said, "He was my first martial arts instructor. He's consulting with Dr Handyside on my treatment." Anita asked, "Where did you have lunch on the Citadel?" Cassidy told her, kicking off reminiscences of restaurants that used to be on the Citadel.

Once dinner was done, they went to the game room and set up. Cassidy and Anita drew high, so they partnered. Tarin and Lee won the first match. They were in the second game of the next match when Melanie, Huiqing, Handyside and the boy from her dream came in. Melanie said, "Hi mom. This is our new friend, Mike." Cassidy said, "Hi Mel, Mike, Huiqing, Brian." The four of them went to another table and started teaching Mike to play bridge. Cassidy focused on her own table to keep from staring at Mike.

Cassidy and Anita won the second match. Cassidy said, "I'm calling for a shake, anybody else want something?" Melanie called, "Strawberry shake for me, please." Huiqing spoke up, "I would like strawberry as well, please, Captain." Melanie leaned in to listen to Mike, "Mike says he likes chocolate." All the others shook their heads. Cassidy called for two strawberry, one chocolate and one mint.

Cassidy and Anita were on their way to a slam in the first game when the shakes arrived. Cassidy and Anita ended up winning the third match. Melanie's group just finished their first match, with Brian and Huiqing winning. Melanie said, "Its almost our curfew time. Here, mom, let me take your cup and container. We'll drop all this at the mess hall on our way back." Melanie, Huiqing and Mike left. Lee, Anita and Tarin said goodnight and followed them out.

Handyside said, "Are you alright, Captain? You look concerned." "I find I'm anxious about dreaming. I don't know if I'm up to having an actual someone coming in." "I could get Dr Freilich to give you a sleep aid, but with the way you burn off sedatives, I'm not sure how long it would work to give you dreamless sleep. Maybe if you meditate on keeping your mental barriers up before going to sleep." "I'll try that. Thanks." They left and went to their rooms.

Cassidy found a flower with a note outside her door. She picked it up and took it inside. The flower was a pink carnation. She took it out of its wet wrapping and put it in with the rose. The note was from Liara, "Cassidy, I suggested to Garrus that we make arrangements for deliveries to you each day. I hope you are healing quickly. We all miss you. Say hello to Melanie for me."

Cassidy pulled up the note to Garrus and added to it, but skipped her anxiety attack and the dream, just said she was still working on issues.

Then she sat on the bed and pulled up the memories of her meditation class. She slowed her breathing and heart rate. She thought of her theater. She imagined going into the lobby and making sure the lights were on there, with the popcorn machine going. But then she retreated into the theater and locked the doors to the lobby. Then she went around to all the other doors and locked them up as well. Then she retreated into the operator's box and locked that door, too. Then she turned out the lights inside the theater.

She came out of the meditative state, lowered the lights and crawled under the covers. Her sleep was deep and dreamless.

At breakfast the next morning, Klein was at the corner table and waved her over. She brought her tray and sat across from him. "Good morning, sir." "Good morning, Captain. Did you sleep well?" "In fact, I did. I feel well rested." "Good. I'm going to be stationed here. Handyside is going to the Selk'nam when its ready. I'm going to start a white belt class this morning. I've had twenty two sign up from yesterday's shipwide message announcing the class." Cassidy said, "I didn't see that message." "It only went to crew assigned here." "Ah. OK." Klein ordered, "Captain, I want you to assist me with this class for the remainder of the time you are here." "Yes, sir." "I'll see you at 0815 on the mat where we met yesterday. Make sure you pick up a proper uniform before you come." "Yes, sir."

After breakfast, Cassidy went to the laundry. A seaman there pointed her at a rack to one side. She looked at the uniforms on the rack and found one labeled with her name and the appropriate black belt attached. She took the hanger and carried it to her room. She changed into one set of the short-sleeve white top, the light-weight white pants and the soft leather shoes. She took the belt and double wrapped it around her waist and made sure she tied it properly. She went out to the exercise room.

Klein was there. She bowed to him and came onto the mat when he accepted her. He said, "White belt form, Captain. Your count." She did the form carefully, paying attention to her hands and feet. She finished and bowed. "Good. Now, I will attack. You counter." He ran her through the three blocks at speed. Several of the students were standing watching them. "Captain, take roll, assemble the class." "Yes, sir."

She had 21 of the 22 assembled in rows on the mat when the 22nd came running up. She pointed him to his spot in the back row. She called up one of the students, a woman, that needed to correct their belt knot. Cassidy turned her around and instructed her to remove her belt. Cassidy then reached around her waist and demonstrated the correct tying method. She instructed the students to face the back of the class and adjust themselves if necessary.

Klein entered the mat and Cassidy instructed the class to bow to the master, also bowing herself. Klein said, "I am Colonel Klein. That's Army, not Navy. So, when I give you an order, you will respond with 'Yes, sir' not 'Aye, aye, sir.' Is that understood?" They all called out, "Yes, sir!" "This is Captain Shepard Victus. She is Navy. You will respond to her orders with 'Aye, aye, ma'am.' "

Klein went on, walking to back row, "This class is part of your hand-to-hand martial training, regardless of which branch you serve. That means this is your DUTY and you will be here, ON TIME with your uniform NEAT, CLEAN and PROPERLY tied." He stood right in the face of the 22nd student. "Is that UNDERSTOOD?" They all responded, "Yes, sir!"

Klein said, "Captain, tap every other one of these students and take them to the mat just behind this mat. Teach them the first 4 moves of the white belt form. After twenty minutes return with them here." "Yes, sir." Cassidy saw Juran was in the class. She tapped the 2nd, 4th and so on, catching Juran, and the late student. She led her 11 students back to the other mat and lined them up again.

She had 4 students with excellent large motor coordination, 3 with good, 2 with okay and 2 with poor. Juran was in the excellent group. She taught the moves, emphasizing the placement of their feet and hands. She ran them through slowly. Then she had them do each move one at a time, going through and correcting body position where necessary. By the end of that, the twenty minutes were up. She returned them to the front mat.

Klein said, "At ease, class, sit around the edge of the mat. Captain, front and center." "Yes, sir" "Captain, white belt form, your count." Cassidy did the form slowly, all 12 moves, concentrating on proper body position. She finished and held the final position until he released her, then she bowed to him. Klein said, "That is the presentation you should aim to emulate. Now, something for you to contemplate for the future . . . Captain, 1st black belt form, your count." Cassidy adjusted to the proper starting stance and did the form, steadily, making sure to land her jumps and kicks in the proper stances. She finished, he released her and she bowed.

The students applauded her. Klein said, "Line up!" They jumped up and formed their lines. Cassidy went to the front. Klein said, "Bow to the assistant instructor!" Then Cassidy turned to Klein and said, "Bow to the master instructor!" Klein said, "Dismissed!" The students dispersed.

Klein went to the bench along the bulkhead and called Cassidy over. He opened a bag and handed a warm wrapped cylinder to her. She unwrapped it and found it to be a long cinnamon roll. "Thank you, sir." She sat and ate. In between bites of his, he said, "Just making sure you are properly refueled, Captain. I do not want to see Admiral Hackett scowl at me. He is touchy over anything to do with you. You will see Handyside for lunch, then the afternoon is yours. I suggest you do some easy laps in the pool today." She replied, "Good idea, sir, I will."

She went to her room and took a shower. She decided to browse the online library for something to read until lunch, but as she was looking at the categories, she changed her mind and made a music playlist. She got the music playing and pulled up the extranet to surf. She found some political cartoons that were making fun of the xenophobes and one depicted her kicking Harbinger to pieces while standing, cheerleader-style on the shoulders of a geth and a turian, who were on the shoulders of krogan, asari, human and quarian. She downloaded that one, saved it to her account.

Chesa said, "XO Carruthers is requesting entry." Cassidy turned off the music and closed the extranet. "Come in." The door opened and Lee stepped in. "I hope I'm not intruding, Cassidy." "What's up, Lee?" "I just wanted to let you know that Lt Norquist is onboard. I'll be giving him the tour this afternoon and he'll start duty in the med bay this afternoon. He'll be on second shift for the time being. I thought you might want to work out how you want to get the measure of him." Cassidy asked, "Does he need hand-to-hand training?" Lee pulled up his omni-tool and did a search, "He's apparently into jujitsu, so I guess he'll probably take that route here, too." Cassidy said, "I'll think about it. Thanks for the heads up, Lee." "Want to join me for lunch?" "Sorry, I have a lunch appointment with Brian today. Another time." Lee left.

Cassidy got up and stretched. She said, "Chesa, is there a laser tag game scheduled this evening?" "No, Captain. Would you like to set up a game?" "Yes, put the limit at 12 players. Meeting time 1930."


	64. Chapter 64

Chapter 64

Cassidy went to lunch, meeting Handyside at the corner table. Handyside said, "Hello Captain. I hope you didn't work too hard this morning for Klein." Cassidy replied, "He pushed me a little, but had calories ready, so no problem." "Tell me about your night. Did you meditate?" "I did, pictured locking the theater doors. Turned out the lights. Nobody home." "Mike said that last night he tried to imagine the theater again. He said he was in a raging thunderstorm and he saw the lights in the lobby of the theater. He went in, where it was warm and dry and popcorn was popping in the machine. He tried the door of the theater, but it was locked. He got some popcorn and sat in the lobby waiting but nobody came out, the doors stayed closed, no lights peeking from under the doors."

Cassidy said, "I couldn't bring myself to freeze him out totally. I prepped the lobby in my meditation. But I didn't dream." Handyside said, "Well, this verifies that he does have a talent. But this time he was deliberately trying to imagine the theater, your mind. If we leave him in the dark, he might not think that courtesy is necessary." Cassidy paused to think, then said, "You're right. He should be aware that his 'imagination' affects other people and that we have asked for an expert to come and teach him. Do you need me to talk to him?"

Handyside said, "Let's consider that. Right now, he doesn't believe that his thoughts are anything but private. He doesn't know that he communicated his grief to you. How do we introduce the idea that he has this talent to reach out? Why would he believe it?" Cassidy said, "What if I write a note about what I'm going to try tonight in my meditation and if he comes and sees that, describes it to you, then you show him the note? That would give you a place to start with him about his ability." Handyside thought a moment then said, "Don't tell me what you are going to do, but I'll get that note from you tonight."

After lunch, Cassidy went and got her swim stuff and went to the exercise room. She changed in the locker room then went and found an empty lane in the pool. She went easy, swimming slowly on her back, leaving her arms underwater. She thought about the theater. She let herself go into meditation, and brought the theater up in her vision. She was in the operator's booth, the lights were off. She went and unlocked the doors to the lobby. She turned off the popcorn machine. She went to a closet and took some movie posters out and unrolled them to see what she had: there was a Harrison Ford theme going here . . . Star Wars , Raiders of Lost Ark, Blade Runner, Witness, Patriot Games, Air Force One, Cowboys & Aliens, Ender's Game. She covered the inside surface of the doors to the outside with the posters. She turned off the lights in the lobby, but made sure the lights under the overhang were on to illuminate the posters. She chained the outer doors closed and turned the floor and ceiling bolts. She went back into the theater and sat on the couch where Star Wars was beginning.

Cassidy pulled her sight back to the exercise room. She checked her omni-tool and saw that she had been swimming for over an hour. She pulled herself out of the pool.

After cleaning up in the locker room, she went to stores and got a notebook and pen, and a drawing pad and a set of colored pencils. She went to the mess hall and got a club sandwich and took it all to the garden. She found a table by the orchids. She ate while she wrote the note about changes she had made to the the lobby of her theater. When she finished the note, she pulled out the drawing pad and started sketching out a striking orchid that was hanging right next to the table. She was shading in the vibrant orange section of the flower when she got a chirp on her omni-tool. It was a text from Kahlee, "Dinner?" Cassidy sent back "OK" then packed up her stuff. She dropped her stuff in her room then went to the mess hall.

Kahlee met her in the passageway outside the mess hall. "I hear you set up a game of laser tag this evening. Some of the cadets were complaining that the slots were filled before they even heard about it." Cassidy looked up the participant list on her omni-tool. "Looks like a bunch of marines." "The marines would be itching to go up against you, Cassidy."

Kahlee and Cassidy talked about the latest news of Jack and her students. Then Kahlee asked for Cassidy's assistance in making the playlist for the reception after the wedding.

After dinner, Cassidy went to her room to check her messages. Another flower arrived, this time a daisy from Steve Cortez. Cassidy smiled as she added it to the vase. She read his note, "Hope you are doing well. The future Vakarians need their mom." and put it in her bag with the others. She pulled out her drawing pad and worked on the orchid drawing until it was time to go play laser tag.

Cassidy set all 12 of them to defend a target from her. She told them she would use biotics but not warps. She went to the far side from the target. She found the first sneaking to flank her on the right. She took him out then whipped back to take out one moving between cover. She snuck back and caught sight of someone peeking around cover. She sent a lift at him from the upper right and then caught him with the laser as he dodged the lift. Their commander sent two flanking. Cassidy moved left and caught the one on that side as the marine was heading to cover. She turned and sent a lift to the right to the area where she thought the other would be and was rewarded with two that popped into the air where she took those out as she rolled to a new cover. She took the other six down in similar fashion and she captured the target in 2:05.

The marine commander congratulated her, "I'm glad you're on our side, Captain. I've never seen anybody react so effectively to changing tactics. And most biotics are lousy shots, but not you – you drilled 7 of us in the head." He shook her hand. She went to change and they set themselves up into two teams for a capture the flag game.

Admiral Hackett met her outside the game room. "Thank you for giving them a challenge, Captain. Lt Jackson needed to lose for once, he was getting too complacent. Walk with me." Cassidy fell in beside him. He continued, "Tomorrow you begin light duty. After you teach the class with Klein, I'd like you to go out to the Selk'nam and work with Kiepja and the geth to answer their questions. They have life support running, so some workers are now working there without suits, but they aren't comfortable with the geth. It will do them good to hear you treat Kiepja and the geth like people."

Cassidy said, "I look forward to seeing the Selk'nam and meeting Keipja on her turf." Hackett said, "Good. Now there are guests in the observation lounge on deck 3 that would like to see you. Good evening, Captain." "Good evening, Admiral." Cassidy went to the mess hall first and grabbed a bag of popcorn to eat on the way to the lounge.

When she got to the lounge, the door opened and she saw Jacob and Brynn, with a baby in Brynn's arms. Jacob said, "Cassidy! Good to see you!" Brynn said, "I'm glad you came!" Cassidy came over and Brynn passed the baby over to Cassidy. Jacob said, "Her name is Cassandra Grace Cole. We decided to use Brynn's family name, so I've changed to Jacob Cole now." Cassidy looked into Cassandra's wide brown eyes, "She's beautiful. Brynn, she has your eyes." Jacob held up his omni-tool and took a picture of Cassidy with Cassandra.

Cassidy kissed the baby on the forehead, then handed her back to Brynn.

Cassidy asked, "What's up for you guys?" Jacob said, "We're moving to London. Brynn is going to head a new research company in partnership with the geth." Brynn said, "I got to know a couple of the primes that came to work on the Crucible. We have some ideas for advancing power production, taking baby steps on the way to something like that power source we had in the Crucible." Jacob said, "I'm going to handle security." Cassidy said, "I'm sure we'll be using your brand of power sources in everything soon."

Brynn said, "Jacob, our shuttle is waiting. I'm sorry we couldn't spend more time, but we want to get her into her crib soon." Jacob said, "I heard you took out a marine squad in laser tag. What, did they not know you were coming?" Cassidy smiled and said, "I gave them fair warning. I set up the game and they signed up. It felt good to be in some sort of action versus all that laying around I had to do on medical leave."

They all said their goodbyes and Cassidy walked them to the flight deck. She went back to her room and took up the orchid drawing again. She was working on the darker peach coloring when Chesa said, "Dr Handyside requests entry." "Come in." Cassidy dug out the notebook and tore out the note and folded it over twice. Handyside came in and said, "Is that the note we discussed?" "Yes. Here." Handyside tucked the note into a pocket. He saw her orchid drawing and said, "The drawing is very nice. Is there anything you can't do well?" "My friends tell me I can't dance." Handyside said, "I suspect that you would do very well at it if you cared to." Cassidy smiled a little. Handyside left.

Cassidy pulled up her note to Garrus and added the day's activities to it, leaving out the dream stuff. She closed her omni-tool and got ready for bed. She meditated and brought up the theater, went around to check that all was as she wanted it to be. She then covered herself and went to sleep.

She had another deep and dreamless sleep.

She met Klein for breakfast. They ate in companionable silence. She finished before he did and went to prep for the class. She was about to leave when her omni-tool chirped. She checked it, there was a message from Adrien Victus, asking her to call him at her convenience. She closed the omni-tool and went to the exercise room.

All of the students were in place by the start of class. Cassidy inspected their uniforms then announced their readiness to Klein. He had them repeat the 4 steps they had learned the previous day. He then went through and picked half the class and took them to the back mat. Cassidy taught her group the next 4 moves then had them run all 8 together, then she had them present two at a time, stopping when they needed correction.

Klein brought his half back and had them sit. He brought Cassidy up to face him, began the attack form and she did the white form moves to block his attacks. He reset them and he did it again, but much faster and she kept up with him. He brought them back to lines and bowed the class out. She turned to go, but he tossed her a banana and she paused long enough to catch it. "Thanks." "Go, you have a construction crew to soothe." "Yes, sir." She ate the banana on the way to her room.


	65. Chapter 65

Chapter 65

Cassidy arrived at her room after Klein's class, took a quick shower and changed to fatigues. She sniffed the rose appreciatively, which was beginning to unfurl, then left the room and went to the flight deck. A pilot came out of the ready room and waved, "Over this way, Captain. Bay 6." She went to bay 6 and got in the shuttle's co-pilot seat. The pilot saluted her, "Lt Nathaniel Reynolds, Captain." She saluted back and said, "At ease, Reynolds. Let's go to the Selk'nam."

Reynolds flew them over to the new ship. A voice came on the comm, "Hello Captain Shepard Victus and Lt Reynolds. I have been expecting you. I am Kiepja. I am opening bay 8 for you, and here is a flight vector so the geth will know where you are coming." "I have set my controls to your vector, Kiepja." said Reynolds.

Reynolds parked and Cassidy got out. She saw a geth waiting for her, so she walked up to it. "Welcome to the Selk'nam, Captain Shepard Victus. I am 'Faculty'. I will take you to the bridge, where Kiepja wishes to speak with you." "Lead on, Faculty."

The elevator was nice and quick, Cassidy noticed. Once on the bridge, Faculty left her and closed the door. Cassidy went to the front and sat in a navigation chair and turned to face the interior. "Ok, Kiepja, what's going on?" "Captain, I found that there are human construction workers in violation of their contracts. I am new and I don't want to sour things right off by causing people to lose their jobs. I'm hoping you can intervene and come to a more comfortable resolution to things."

"What are they doing, exactly, that is in violation?" "There are three that have begun to come to work under the influence of mind-altering substances. Today is the third day. Their work has been sloppy and other workers have needed to come in behind them to do the work over. They are slowing down the build." "Who is their supervisor?" "The supervisor has been off these past few days due to a family emergency on Earth, his young son is being treated for unexplained seizures." "Then who is in charge?" "The highest ranked union worker is Hector Franks." "Show me the ID pics of Franks and the three workers you are concerned about and put up a copy of their contract with the relevant sections highlighted."

Cassidy studied the faces, then read the relevant contract language closely. "Kiepja, get me Admiral Hackett please." "Just a moment, Captain." Hackett's voice, "Captain, what do you need?" "I need you to bring up a union grievances officer and an Alliance lawyer. It looks like I'm going to find three union workers in violation of the drug-use clause. The supervisor is on Earth for a family emergency." "I see. You haven't observed these workers in person yet?" "No, sir. I may need to use force to bring them into custody." "Tread carefully, please, Captain." "Aye, aye, sir. Shepard Victus out."

Cassidy sighed, "Lt Reynolds, walk with the geth, Faculty, and meet me on the bridge. Bring your weapon." "Aye, aye, ma'am. Locking up now." Cassidy asked, "Faculty, will you please escort Lt Reynolds to the bridge. Make sure he does not come in sight of any of the union workers." Faculty replied, "I will do so, Captain." Cassidy continued, "Kiepja show me on the ship schematic where these workers are at this moment. . . . Thanks, now do you have a camera showing that area? No? Hmm. Ok, where is Franks? . . . . Thanks."

The bridge door opened and Lt Reynolds came in, carrying an assault rifle, with a pistol on his hip. Cassidy nodded at him and said, "Let's go check on an area that has gone dark." "Aye, aye, ma'am." He accompanied her out of the door and over to the elevator.

The door opened to a dark passageway. Cassidy could see a glow coming out of a doorway ahead. Cassidy approached quietly and out of view of anyone in the room, Reynolds following. She got next to the door and listened but heard nothing. She drew her pistol and went in. She found two workers slumped in chairs, then she smelled something noxious and she pushed Reynolds out of the room and followed right behind him out. She instructed Reynolds to stay in the passageway. He readily agreed saying he was feeling a bit queasy.

She took a big breath, then ducked back in and grabbed the closest worker and dragged him out. She pulled him close to the elevator. "Kiepja, ask the Philippines to send a medical rescue team to our location." She went back and pulled the other worker out and up next to the first. "Kiepja, where is the third worker?"

"Right here, Shepard." Cassidy spun around with her pistol out and barrier up. The third man was holding Lt Reynolds' limp body close, and the assault rifle pointed up at Reynolds' chin. Cassidy said, "Let him go and it will go much easier for you after." He said, "Why should I? You have betrayed us all, gone turian. The geth have taken the jobs we used to do in dry dock. You are going to stay right there while I take your friend in here." The worker dragged Reynolds into the room. Cassidy sent a lift around the corner into the room.

She ran to the door. The worker was floating, while the shielded Reynolds was on the floor. She holstered her gun, grabbed Reynolds and pulled him out and over by the elevator. Then she turned back but not quite fast enough as the lift ended and the worker got up and tried to shoot her with the assault rifle, but missed. She went in, grabbed the rifle out of his hand with one hand and knocked him out with the butt of the rifle. She dragged him out and laid him on the other side of the elevator door. She turned and threw up from whatever was poisoning the room, and now presumably the passageway as well. "Kiepja, where is the nearest emergency oxygen?" "Follow the white line on the floor, Captain." Cassidy's vision narrowed, she forced herself to focus and she saw the white line. She followed the white line to a glass cabinet, which opened as she approached. She propped the assault rifle against the bulkhead, grabbed a mask, put it on and started the oxygen. She breathed a few breaths, then said, "Kiepja, ask Faculty to come here, please."

Faculty's voice, approaching, "I am already here, Captain. How may I assist you?" "Place this mask on Lt Reynolds' face and turn the oxygen on." She handed Faculty a mask and tank. She strapped her oxygen tank to her like a backpack. She grabbed the assault rifle and took it to the elevator. She and Faculty moved all four of the unconscious people into the elevator. She and Faculty got in with them and she instructed Kiepja to take the elevator to the flight deck. Then she and Faculty got all four of them out of the elevator and onto the deck.

Kiepja's voice, "The medical rescue team is landing now." Faculty said, "I will go escort them here, Captain." Cassidy said, "Thank you, Faculty" as she knelt by Reynolds.

Reynolds eyes were blinking when the med techs and marines arrived. They started oxygen on the three workers, while the marines set up three gurneys. Then the marines lifted the workers onto the gurneys and pushed them off down toward the starboard flight bays. The med techs split up, one to check on Reynolds and one to check on Cassidy.

"Stay sitting, Captain. I'm Lt Norquist. I'm going to take a blood sample." He took her hand and pricked a finger and transferred the drop of blood to his scanner. "Your blood oxygen levels are good. You can take that mask off. Do you need help with that?" "No, Lieutenant, I'll do it." She shrugged off the oxygen tank and took the mask off. Norquist turned off the tank. Cassidy picked up the assault rifle and stood up.

The other med tech said, "The lieutenant will be able to walk out in about 10 minutes." Norquist got on his omni-tool, "Go ahead and take those three to the Philippines. These in here are stable." Cassidy said, "We can go out on our shuttle when he's up."

The elevator opened and Faculty came out. "Captain, I went down to examine the room. The air had high levels of carbon monoxide among other things. I extinguished the smoke producing apparatus that the workers had been using. The smoke it produced was not toxic on its own, but on the other side of the wall, geth were welding some panels in place. The resulting fumes went into the room through an opening meant for air exchange and chemically reacted with the smoke, to produce the carbon monoxide as one of the reactants."

Cassidy said, "This one will be fun for the union and Alliance lawyers to work out, I'm sure." Cassidy turned to Norquist and held out her hand, "Captain Cassidy Shepard Victus, captain of the Normandy. I hear you want to serve with us." Norquist shook her hand, "Yes, ma'am. I understand you have a mixed species crew and Dr Chakwas has extensive experience. I would be honored to be posted there." "Yes, we have a couple turians, an asari, a geth and an AI, but the krogan, quarians, and one batarian have gone. There have been times of rescuing other species, too, so there's opportunity that way as well, I guess. I'll approve your transfer, Norquist."

Faculty said, "The geth posted aboard the Normandy is Clowder. We cannot reach him at this time. The Normandy is either out of FTL comm range or under comm blackout."

Reynolds raised his head. The other med tech took a blood sample and checked it. He helped Reynolds to sit up, help him get the mask off, then turned that tank off. Cassidy said, "When your head is clear to pilot, you can take us back." Reynolds said, "I need a minute or so, Captain, my headache is clearing up." Cassidy passed his assault rifle back to him.

After a couple minutes, they all stood up and walked to the shuttle. Kiepja said, "I'm sorry, Captain, I wasn't able to determine the danger to you. The detectors in that area had been disabled, as well as the cameras. I will consider the problem and come up with suggestions." "Not your fault, Kiepja. The workers will be tried for their part in the situation." "I hope to be able to show you the completed ship soon, Captain." "I'll come back when you're ready, Kiepja."

Reynolds landed the shuttle on the Philippines. Cassidy said to Reynolds, "Well, I'm sorry that you won the opportunity to get poisoned, Lieutenant." "No, no, getting to pilot you was definitely worth it, ma'am. Now I have a story to tell the girls. All's well that ends well." He smiled. She disembarked and walked out to her room.

She checked her messages and was reminded about Adrien's comm request. "Chesa, connect me to Palaven, Adrien Victus, personal call." "Connecting, Captain, please wait." "Primarch Victus' office. May I take a message?" "This is Captain Cassidy Shepard Victus, returning his comm request." "Please hold a moment, Captain. I'll inform him that you are on the line."

Adrien came on the comm. "Cassidy! Thank you for calling me back. How are you?" "Physically healed up. Back to light duty, father. What's going on there?" "I need to ask you, now that you are family, how you feel about me bringing your mother into the family, as my mate." "That's wonderful, father! I'm so happy for you and for her! Have you proposed yet? I just ask to know whether I can ask her about it yet." "Rahana has already agreed and now that you have agreed, I'm going to ask her tonight. Do you mind if we include it with you and Garrus' family ceremony?" "I'll have to ask Garrus about that, but I don't mind, since he and I have had the civil union for quite some time already. I don't expect to see Garrus for about 10 days or more." "I'll ask what Hannah wants to do. Thank you, Cassidy. I was pretty sure you would be happy about this, but I needed to ask. More meetings to get to. Take care of yourself, Cassidy." "Goodbye, father."

Cassidy was happy, but drained. She went to lunch. She was there before Handyside, so she sat and started in on her enchiladas. She was working on her fruit and yogurt parfait when Handyside brought his lunch to the table. "Did your light duty this morning turn out to be more than that?" "You weren't called to talk to the workers we pulled off the Selk'nam?" "No, Klein must have that honor." "I shouldn't say much, as its going to end up in arbitration or court between the union and the Alliance." "Ah." "But yes, it turned out to be more than light duty. So, I'm going back for seconds. I'll be right back." Cassidy went back for another enchilada and another sopapilla with honey. She returned to the table.

Cassidy asked, "Do I get to hear about what happened with the note?" "As you might know, he tried again last night. When I gave him the note, he was lost for words for quite some time. Then I introduced the idea that he had intruded on another mind. We explored that idea." "I slept dreamlessly, so I didn't know. Is he going to be freaked out or embarrassed around me now?" Handyside sighed, "I guess we'll have to wait and see."

After lunch, Cassidy was called up to a conference room and asked to give a deposition about the morning's events aboard the Selk'nam. It began, "Why did you go to deck 5 on the Selk'nam this morning?" "I was asked to investigate an area where the cameras were no longer functioning." It went on from there for about an hour.

Cassidy went to the pool after the deposition. She swam a little faster than the day before, doing a slow but steady backstroke. About a half hour in, she saw Admiral Hackett sitting on the edge with his pant legs rolled up and his feet in the water. "Admiral." "Captain. I'm just taking a break. I used to like doing this as a young man, sitting on the edge, talking to attractive women in the pool." "Thank you, sir. Are the depositions done?" "They're arguing over whether or not to depose Faculty. The workers have recovered and I'm having them sent groundside as we speak. They don't need to be here, with their xenophobic rhetoric, threatening you."

Hackett went on, "Carter wants you. I told her you needed the rest of today to recover from this morning, seeing as it was more than light duty. So you can go over to her tomorrow after Klein's class. She didn't push about it, so that's good. Whatever it is isn't a crisis, yet anyway." Hackett got up, "Finish your swim, Captain. No doubt there are things waiting for my attention." Cassidy ducked under water and pushed off the wall, returning to her backstroke.

After another half hour, Cassidy pulled herself out of the pool, showered in the locker room and returned to her room. She spent some time on personal chores like laundry. As she worked, she noticed that she was pushing her hair off her face fairly often. She decided to visit the barber.

She left the barber enjoying the lightness of her head, her curls pushed back up where they belonged. She returned to her room, resumed her playlist and pulled out her orchid drawing to finish it.

The flower delivery came. This time it was a stalk of blue gladiolas, the note was from James, "Hey Lola, the place isn't the same without you." Cassidy added the gladiolus stalk to her vase, noting that it was getting crowded at the narrow point. She pulled up to extranet to see what the flower shop on the Citadel had in the way of vases. She saw a decent variety, so she chose a nice wide mouth one and ordered it.


	66. Chapter 66

Chapter 66

Chesa said, "XO Carruthers is requesting entry." Cassidy turned off the music and said "Come in." Lee stepped in, "Interesting variety of flowers." "They're from my crew. Dr T'Soni arranged for them to pick a flower and write a note. I get one every day. The rose is from my husband, the carnation from Dr T'Soni, the daisy from my shuttle pilot and the gladiolus stalk from my N7 trainee." "How thoughtful of Dr T'Soni. She must be a good friend." "She is." "Are you free for dinner this evening?" "As it happens, I am."

Cassidy and Lee left and went to dinner. They sat at a table along the side. Lee said, "Those lawyers finally decided to go ahead and depose Faculty. They went over to the Selk'nam to do it." "Well, I'm glad they did. It gives a little more legal weight to the idea of the geth being people, with legal rights and responsibilities." "It has been interesting conversing with Chesa, the things she doesn't get, figurative speech and all. I imagine it was worse with your Edi." "Joker has been trying to teach her. One of the funniest was when I said that potential lovers need chemistry. She thought I meant pharmaceuticals."

Her omni-tool chirped, she checked, it was a text from Melanie, asking to meet in Cassidy's room after dinner. Cassidy looked around and spotted Melanie looking at her with an anxious expression. Cassidy nodded at her.

Cassidy turned back. Lee said, "Everything OK?" Cassidy replied, "Melanie wants to talk, after dinner." Lee said, "Sometimes I even miss the teenage drama. My kids either have teeny ones of their own or are trying. Nobody calls, though I do get an occasional baby pic of the grandkids." Cassidy said, "Melanie hasn't been a problem, even with her grief. She seems to be one to reach out and hang on for all she's worth, rather than the type that retreats." Lee said, "They do seem to come pre-set with certain types of personalities. My daughter, even as a baby, always was and still is wary of anything new. She didn't like to touch clay, she didn't want to touch the frosting of her smash cake at first. My wife had to put her own finger in the frosting then swipe it on Janet's tongue, then Janet was willing to do it herself. But my son, he dived headfirst into everything. We ended up tossing the outfit he was in for the smash cake – he had frosting everywhere."

They finished and Lee said, "If you have time tonight, let me know, I'll pull folks in for a bridge game." Cassidy said, "We'll see." She went off to her room.

Melanie arrived a couple minutes later. She came in and hugged Cassidy firmly. Cassidy wrapped her arms around Melanie and kissed her on the top of the head. When Melanie let up, Cassidy drew her over to the couch and sat with her. "What's going on, Mel?" "I know I shouldn't . . . I mean all the other kids don't have their parents here, so I know I'm lucky, but . . ." "But what?" "Its Mike, Mom. I don't know how to help him. He's so hurt and angry and today he just retreated away from all of us. He won't even look at me. He didn't do more than pick at his dinner. That's not healthy for a biotic."

Cassidy said, "I know you are his friend now, honey, but he is getting help from Dr Handyside. It will probably take some time for him to work out his problems and the best you can do is continue to be available as a friend. Don't take his retreat personally, he's not mad at you." "Well, I think there is maybe something you can do, Mom. He is really worried about his little cousin, Wendy. She's only 4. He and she were evacuated from their colony but theirs was the only shuttle to make it. They ended up in a group home on Eden Prime, before he was tagged as a biotic. He was looking after her, like he promised his mom and her mom. But then they assigned him to the Academy but they wouldn't let him bring her, because he's still a minor. He's really mad about that."

Cassidy paused, "You want me to see if I can bring her here, take over as her guardian? Honey, that's only a temporary solution. I'm going back to the Normandy as soon as they finish their mission." "It's a step in the right direction, Mom. Maybe if she's here, he can emotionally heal faster. Then, well, you let me on the Normandy, couldn't you work it out for her? Maybe bring on a nanny for her, for when you and dad are on duty or on mission? Please tell me you'll think about it, please."

Cassidy said, "First of all let's determine her status. She may have been already adopted out of the group home." Melanie wiped her face and said, "OK, send the message to ask, now." Cassidy pulled up her omni-tool, "Chesa, please show me the public records for Eden Prime youth group homes for orphans, for any 4 year old girls named Wendy." "That will take a few minutes, Captain. Please wait."

Chesa put the result up on Cassidy's omni-tool. "There is only one record matching your search parameters, Captain. Wendy Ann Haverline is at the Jorine Youth Home in Jorine on Eden Prime. Their time of day is mid-afternoon. Would you like to contact the adoption counselor, Danielle Somers?" "Yes, put in a comm request."

"Just a moment, Captain."

"Jorine Youth Home, this is Danielle Somers. Hello, Captain . . . Shepard Victus?! Captain, this is so, um, sorry, uh, what can I do for you, Captain?" "I'm calling to inquire about Wendy Ann Haverline, age 4." "Yes, um, let me pull her record up . . . Wendy is a verified war orphan, her nearest relation is a 15 year old cousin just sent to Grissom Academy, on the Philippines." Cassidy asked, "How would I go about becoming her guardian and moving her here with me on the Philippines, for now?" Somers queried, "So, she would be able to see her cousin again?" "Yes, counselor, we are thinking that would help his anxiety over her as well." "Let me see, for you, Captain, there are no impediments. Let me go get the notary, just a sec . . "

Melanie's eyes sparkled and she gave Cassidy a big bear hug. Somers came back on, "I have our notary here, Peter Van Wolff. Peter, are you prepared to bear witness to a transfer of guardianship for Wendy Ann Haverline, age 4?" "I am ready, Counselor Somers. Please state your identity, who is going to accept guardianship." Cassidy said, "I am Cassidy Florence Krueger Shepard Victus, Alliance Captain and Council Spectre." Van Wolff said "You will need a witness on your end to verify your identity to us, Captain. Who will that be?" Cassidy said, "One moment please." She sent a text to Lee, asking him to come. She sent another text to Hackett asking if she could have personal use of a shuttle for a round trip to Eden Prime this evening.

Somers said, "While we wait for your witness, how do you plan to transport Wendy, Captain?" "I am arranging to come to you in a shuttle today." "Excellent." Chesa said, "XO Carruthers has arrived, Captain." "Come in."

Carruthers said, "What's up, Cassidy?" "Will you please identify yourself to these folks at the Jorine Youth Home on Eden Prime and then tell them who I am?" "No problem, I am Gavin Lee Carruthers, Alliance Captain and Executive Officer of the Philippines. This is Captain Cassidy Shepard Victus, Alliance Captain, Council Spectre and captain of the Normandy." Van Wolff said, "Thank you, Captain Carruthers."

Cassidy got a reply from Hackett, approving her request. Van Wolff said, "Do you, Captain Shepard Victus accept the rights and responsibilities of guardianship of Wendy Ann Haverline, age 4?" "I do." Somers said, "We'll get her ready, Captain and we'll be waiting. Congratulations! Wendy will be happy to hear she is going to see Mike again." "Shepard Victus out." Melanie jumped up and squealed, "Yay!"

Lee looked at Melanie, then back at Cassidy, "Did you just take guardianship of a 4 year old girl on Eden Prime?" Cassidy looked at Melanie, "I guess I just did." Melanie said, "Mom! Can I come on the shuttle with you? Captain Carruthers, can you come, too?" Lee said, "Yes, let me inform Admiral Hackett . . ."

Cassidy sent a text to Handyside, then said, "Alright then, let's go get on the shuttle." Cassidy, Melanie and Lee went out to to go to the flight deck. On the elevator, Handyside got on with them, "Let me get this straight, Captain. You are going to get Mike's cousin, Wendy, and bring her back here under your guardianship?" "That's correct, Dr." Melanie said, "Its going to make Mike so happy, I was worried when he wouldn't eat his dinner, he was so withdrawn. He wouldn't even talk to me." Handyside said, "He didn't eat and he wouldn't talk to you, Melanie?" She shook her head. Handyside said, "Chesa, where is Mike Travers?" "He is in the men's locker room next to the exercise room." "Get Dr Klein to contact Mike, evaluate his emotional condition." Chesa said, "Contacting Dr Klein."

The elevator stopped at the flight deck. Melanie and Lee stepped out. Cassidy turned to Handyside, "What is worrying you?" "I need to get to him, Captain. We'll see you when you come back with Wendy. Go!" Cassidy stepped out and the elevator door closed.

"Captains, this way! Bay 3." called one of the pilots, coming out of the ready room. Lee, Melanie and Cassidy got into the shuttle in Bay 3. The pilot said, "I am Flight Lieutenant Belinda Jones. I understand we are headed to Eden Prime?" Cassidy said, "Yes, Lt Jones, Jorine. Jorine Youth Home to be specific." "Lifting off, ETA 2 hours, 22 minutes."

Lee said, "We should let the daycare group know that Wendy will be coming to them tomorrow morning. You will be heading to the Citadel on Spectre business, correct?" Cassidy replied, "Yes, that's a good idea. Thank you, Lee. Chesa, could you get me whoever's in charge of enrolling children in the daycare?" Chesa said, "Contacting Chief Warrant Officer 3 Evelyn Washington, one moment please . . ." "Washington." "This is Captain Shepard Victus. I would like to enroll my ward, Wendy Ann Haverline, age 4, for daycare, beginning tomorrow morning." Washington said, "One moment, Captain. Wendy Ann Haverline, currently at Jorine Youth Home on Eden Prime." Chesa said, "I have already pulled Wendy's files, Chief Warrant Officer." "So you have, Chesa. Good. Captain, you will need to have Wendy examined here on the ship before you bring her for care. We will see you and Wendy tomorrow morning, Captain." "Thank you, Washington." "Washington out."

Lee said, "Cassidy, do you want a family suite, two bedrooms?" "No, put me in a suite with one bedroom but two beds. That way I can be right there if she has a nightmare or something." "Chesa, what is available for one bedroom suite with two beds?" "Suites 682 – 686 are available, Captain Carruthers." "Assign 682 to Captain Shepard Victus and Wendy." "Assigned." "Thank you, Chesa."

Chesa said, "Incoming call from Palaven. Rear Admiral Hannah Shepard." Cassidy said, "Put her through." "Cassidy, are you on a shuttle?" "Yes, Mom. Melanie, Captain Lee Carruthers, and Flight Lieutenant Evelyn Jones are here with me." "Where are you taking Melanie?" Melanie said, "Hi Grandma! We're going to Eden Prime get our new ward, Wendy. She's 4." Hannah asked, "When was this decided, Cassidy?" "Just this evening, Mom. There was a need, Melanie convinced me to fill it." "Wonderful! I look forward to meeting Wendy. Now, my news. Adrien and I got engaged just this evening!" Melanie said, "Yay, Grandma! That's awesome!" Cassidy said, "Congratulations, Mom! I'm happy for you both." Lee said, "Good for you, Hannah! Though I'm missing out again." Hannah said, "Thanks, Lee. Cassidy, I'll call again tomorrow evening and you can introduce me to Wendy and we can make some arrangements, OK?" "OK, mom" "Bye Grandma!" "Goodbye Hannah" Hannah said, "Palaven out."

Melanie clapped her hands, "This is such an awesome day!" Cassidy said, "Let's set up Chinese Checkers, 3 way on our omni-tools." Lee and Melanie agreed. They played games until they got to Eden Prime.

The shuttle came down in a raging thunderstorm. Jones said, "Captain, I have secured authorization to land directly in Jorine. We'll come down right on top of the building." The shuttle settled down. Lee, Melanie and Cassidy got ready to go out in the rain. The door opened and Cassidy saw someone with a lantern waving to them. They ran toward the lantern and then into a door. The person with the lantern came in behind them. "I'm Counselor Somers." "Captain Cassidy Shepard Victus, my daughter Melanie, and that's Captain Lee Carruthers." "Welcome. This storm is supposed to be short-lived so hopefully it will be over by the time we bring Wendy up here. I need to verify your ID, please." Cassidy put up her hand and Somers scanned her palm. "Thank you, Captain. Come this way to the elevator down."

They got in an elevator and went down. The doors opened onto a pleasant lobby. Somers led them over to the side and through a door to an office area. She showed them to her office and had them sit. "Can I get you something to drink while we're waiting for Wendy?" Cassidy said, "Hot chocolate?" Melanie said, "Me, too." Carruthers said, "Coffee, black."

About 15 minutes later, the door opened and a teenage girl came in carrying a duffel bag and with a 4 year old holding her hand. They came to Somers' office. The girl said, "Wendy, this is Ms Somers. Do you remember her?" Wendy nodded. Somers held her hand out and Wendy took it. The teen put the duffel bag down and left.

Somers said, "Wendy, this is Cassidy. She's going to take care of you now." Wendy looked at Cassidy. Cassidy held out her arms and Wendy came into them. Cassidy hugged her then turned Wendy so she was sitting on her lap. Cassidy kept her arms around Wendy. Cassidy said, "This is Melanie and that is Captain Carruthers." Wendy stayed silent, but looked at both Melanie then Lee.

Somers said, "The duffel bag has her teddy bear, a tooth brush, hair brush, 7 changes of casual clothes, 3 pairs of pajamas, an extra pair of shoes, a pair of slippers, and a jacket. There is also a package of pull-ups, she is still toilet training. She is chipped with your information now. The chip is in the fatty area of her upper right thigh." Cassidy said, "When did she last eat?" "Afternoon snack was about an hour and a half ago." Cassidy looked at Wendy, "Are you hungry? We can go get some dinner." Wendy nodded.

Cassidy said, "Somers, would you pull up the weather and tell me how much longer that storm is hanging around for?" "Just a moment, Captain, let me update this page. . . looks like we're about done, see that's the trailing edge, just passing over us now." Cassidy stood Wendy up then stood up herself, keeping hold of her right hand. Lee grabbed the bag. Melanie got up and took Wendy's other hand. Somers said, "I'll escort you up to your shuttle, Captain."


	67. Chapter 67

Chapter 67

When they got up to the top, the sunlight was streaming between the clouds. The door opened to the shuttle, dripping water. Melanie, Wendy, Cassidy then Lee got in. Cassidy said, "Lieutenant, find us a commercial center with restaurants and shopping." Jones pulled up a search page and said, "There's an enclosed mall about 20 minutes away." "OK, take us there."

Cassidy strapped Wendy into her seat then opened Wendy's duffel and pulled out the teddy bear and handed it to Wendy. Wendy clutched it to her chest and said very softly, "Thank you." Cassidy asked, "What's the bear's name?" "Jenny" Cassidy said, "You are taking good care of Jenny."

Cassidy looked at Melanie and Wendy. Melanie was pale, green-eyed, with long, straight, dark blonde hair. Wendy was a shade darker than Melanie, brown-eyed, with short, curly, brown hair. Not that it mattered to Cassidy who was pale with freckles, green-eyed, with short, curly red hair.

Jones said, "Coming in to the mall, Captain. I'll drop you at the west entrance then go park." The shuttle came down and the four of them got out and went in. Lee pulled up the mall directory. "There's a food court in the center." They walked at Wendy's pace to the food court. Cassidy went around to the different stalls and told Wendy to nod when Melanie named something something she would like to eat. Melanie called out the major items each stall sold and Wendy nodded at 'macaroni and cheese'.

Cassidy got the mac n cheese, a packet of carrot shavings, a little cup of sweet peas, plus a strawberry shake for Wendy. Cassidy got a chili cheese dog and carrots and peas and a shake for herself. Melanie had a regular hot dog with mustard and relish. Lee got a giant hot pretzel. Wendy ate well, even the peas once Cassidy started eating her own.

Cassidy asked, "Where's a shop where we can get her a swimsuit?" Lee looked it up and said, "Not far down the north wing." They finished and went to the shop Lee had found. Inside the clerk said, "Welcome to Elsie's. What are you looking for?" Cassidy said, "Wendy here needs a swimsuit and water shoes." The clerk took them to an alcove and said, "I can measure over her clothes to get her size." Cassidy had Wendy step in the circle and a scanner measured her. The clerk asked Wendy, "Do you like Pink? Purple?" Wendy nodded at 'purple'.

The clerk went into the back room then came out with 3 different suits in purple. One was a one piece, the other two were two pieces, one with shorts, the other a skort. Wendy pointed at the two piece with shorts. The clerk took the other two back and came out with a pair of boxes. She opened the boxes and showed the water shoes to Wendy. One was purple with neon green accents. The other was purple with white accents. Wendy pointed to the one with neon green accents.

"Will there be anything else today?" Cassidy said, "No, that's it." The clerk bagged up the suit and shoes while Cassidy authorized payment. Melanie took the bag. "Mom, I need a swimsuit, too." Cassidy said, "Take us to a shop where you can get the kind of swimsuit you want." Melanie looked on her omni-tool. She said, "There's a shop just across and down from here."

They walked to Melanie's shop and went in. The clerk got Melanie's measure and told her she was a size 6, then indicated the alcoves that had the swim wear. Melanie chose a navy blue two piece with a skort. She got water shoes as well. They checked out and Cassidy said, "Are we done?" Melanie said, "Yup, done." Cassidy notified Jones to meet them at the west entrance. Cassidy picked up Wendy and put her on her left hip. Wendy put her arms around Cassidy's neck.

They walked back to the center and back down the west wing and out to the shuttle. Cassidy said, "Back to the Philippines, Jones, please." She strapped Wendy into her seat and Jones lifted off. Melanie put Wendy's shopping bag into the duffel bag. Wendy fell asleep about 30 minutes into the flight. Cassidy, Melanie and Lee played omni-tool games.

They landed on the Philippines and Cassidy woke Wendy. Lee took Wendy's duffel bag, Wendy clutched Jenny, and Cassidy and Melanie held her hands as they got off the shuttle. Dr Handyside and Mike were waiting for them. Mike came up, went to his knees and hugged Wendy. Wendy hugged him back with the arm that wasn't clutching Jenny. Mike stood up, his face wet with tears and offered a hand to Cassidy, "Captain Shepard Victus, thank you so much for taking care of Wendy. It means . . . thank you, um and, I'm sorry I intruded. I won't do it again." Cassidy reassured him, "No problem, Mike."

Melanie said, "Hey Mike, we need to get back. Its past curfew." Mike walked off with Melanie. Handyside indicated a golf cart behind him, "Shall we?" They all got on. They stopped first at Cassidy's old room. Cassidy went in and packed up. She came out carrying her flowers, put her duffel bag on the back with Wendy's. Lee got off and said goodnight. Handyside said, "What room now?" "682" He drove them to the other side of the ship and to the room. Cassidy took Wendy's hand and helped her off the cart. She opened the door and took Wendy inside. Handyside brought the bags, "Mind if I come in?" "OK, thanks for carrying the bags."

Cassidy said, "Let me get her in PJ's, teeth and hair brushed, and in bed." Handyside said, "No problem." Cassidy spent about 20 minutes getting Wendy ready for bed then tucked in. Cassidy kissed Wendy's head then Jenny's head, too, when Wendy pushed Jenny up. Cassidy lowered the lights and left the door ajar, then came out and sat across the table from Handyside.

Handyside asked, "What prompted all of this, Captain?" "Melanie." "And you were so agreeable, why?" "I think that first night when Mike came into my dream and said that 'Wendy doesn't understand', I think maybe I started considering the idea of taking her on. So when Melanie suggested it, I wasn't starting from scratch. Besides there's really no good reason not to." "Do you plan to adopt her?" "Assuming Garrus agrees, yes." "Is there a real chance he'll disagree?" "No, I don't think so. He was happy to take on Melanie. I think Wendy will wrap herself around his heart very quickly. We've been planning to be parents for so long."

Handyside asked, "You've planned to bear children?" "Yes. Dr Chakwas and I have been researching and experimenting."

Handyside said, "OK then. I can see that parenthood has been on both your minds. So this isn't quite the rash decision it seemed to be." Cassidy smiled, "I guess it would look that way from out there, not in my head."

Handyside got up. "I'll take my leave and let you get to your rest. I'll see you both tomorrow for lunch." Cassidy said, "Goodnight" She closed and locked the door behind him. She sat and pulled up the note to Garrus and wrote in detail about everything leading up to Wendy, including the dreams. Then she got ready and quietly crawled into her bed, listening to Wendy's deep, even breathing.

Sometime in the wee hours of the morning, Cassidy woke to see Wendy getting out of her bed. She walked over to Cassidy. Cassidy said, "Hey, pumpkin, what's up?" "I sleep with you?" Cassidy pushed back her covers and helped Wendy crawl in. Wendy nestled in, her back to Cassidy's front. Cassidy brought the covers back and put her arm over Wendy and kissed her hair. She listened until Wendy's breathing deepened, then she let herself go back to sleep.

_end day 9_

Cassidy woke a little earlier that usual. She pushed herself up and Wendy yawned and stretched. Cassidy said, "Good morning, pumpkin. Let's get cleaned up and dressed." They got ready and Cassidy said, "We are going to the med bay now, so the doctor can give you a check up." They walked over to elevator and down to med bay. They went in the doors and one of the med techs said, "Good morning, Captain. What can we do for you?" "My new ward, Wendy, needs a check-up before she can go to daycare." "Alright, take her to room 3."

The med tech followed them into the room and said, "Put her up on the examining bed. She can sit." The tech got a scanner and turned to Wendy, "I am Ensign Maria Lopez. What's your name?" Wendy looked at Cassidy. Cassidy said, "This is Wendy and her teddy Jenny." Lopez said, "Good morning, Wendy and Jenny. I will let Jenny help us out. See how I'm putting this by Jenny's ear? Now I'm going to put it by your ear. It will sound buzzy." Ten minutes later, Lopez said, "She's the picture of health, Captain. I'll file the report right away."

Cassidy took Wendy down to the mess hall. Cassidy got both of them scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, hash browns and orange juice. She looked up at the corner table and Klein waved them over. Cassidy saw he already had a booster seat ready for Wendy. Cassidy got Wendy arranged, cut up her eggs and potatoes, then arranged herself. Cassidy said, "Wendy, this is Col. Klein. Colonel, this is my ward, Wendy." Klein said, "Exciting evening, I hear." "Mike was very happy to see Wendy when we docked." "Are you going to bring her to class?" "No, she's all signed up for daycare. I'll drop her there before class." Klein grunted.

After breakfast, Cassidy took Wendy to the daycare. She signed her in and a young seaman came out. "Hello, I am Seaman Eric Banks." "Captain Cassidy Shepard Victus. This is Wendy, she's got Jenny with her and I have a bag of her pull ups." "Let's print out a couple labels for Jenny and for the pull ups. There. Wendy, can you put this on Jenny? It can go on her back or the back of her head or her tummy." Wendy took the label and turned Jenny over and put it on her back. Banks pushed the label down to get it to stick. Cassidy looked into Wendy's face, "You are going to stay here while I go to work. They will have games and books and new friends for you. I will be back to take you to lunch." Banks held out her hand and Wendy took it. Cassidy waved as Lopez and Wendy went inside.

Cassidy went to her room and got ready for Klein's class. She got there and got the class ready. Klein announced to them that they would be belt testing in two days. She and Klein taught them the remainder of the form and worked on the corrections. After the class, Klein pulled out a cooler and handed her an ice cream sandwich. She sat down on the bench to eat with him. He said, "Life is different now, isn't it?" "Yea, a little one makes planning the day a bit more complicated." "Yep."

She went back to the room, showered and changed. Then headed for the shuttle bay. She got there and the pilot this time was Lt. Dizzy Phelps. She got in the shuttle and said, "Sorry if you get this all the time, Phelps, but why Dizzy?" "My given name was Luther. I got it legally changed in Academy when I got tagged with 'Dizzy' after my first simulator flight. Mostly I tell folks that I made my mom dizzy when she was carrying me." Cassidy smiled. "Just a simple Citadel run today, Phelps." "Lifting off, Captain."

Cassidy arrived at Councilor Carter's office. "Phalanx, Councilor." "Captain, grab a drink then have a seat." Cassidy got a lemonade and settled herself. "Congratulations on your new ward, Captain. She's a beautiful child." Cassidy's omni-tool chirped and she saw Carter had passed her a link. She pulled up the article, which had a photo from the mall showing them walking in the north wing. Cassidy zoomed in on Wendy, face looking over at the camera. "Hmm, you're right, she might attract the boys like moths to a flame when she's older." Carter laughed, "You've got her in daycare?" "Yes, I think she's a bit overwhelmed by all the changes right now."

Carter said, "As to why I called for you, Captain. The batarians have asked for any batarians on Omega to be recruited into the salarian study. The salarians are not willing to go to Omega unless Aria grants her protection, their concern being the krogan. Since you seem to have a rapport with her, we'd like you to communicate with her via a QEC we have here." "OK, send the comm request."

Aria's image came into focus, "Cassidy." "Aria." Aria asked, "What's on the Council's mind?" Cassidy replied, "Batarians, salarians and krogan." "Batarians need their kind here to add genetic data to the salarian study, but the salarians are scared of the krogan and want my protection." "As well informed as ever, Aria." "This all seems to be for the benefit of the batarians. I'm going to call Governor Pazness. I'll get back to you." "Sounds good." "By the way, your new daughter is lovely, Cassidy, congratulations." "Thank you, Aria, but she's my ward." "She'll be your and Garrus' daughter soon enough, that's just how you two are. Omega out."

Carter said, "You and she seem to be able to get to the point." Cassidy replied, "Aria keeps tabs on everything that affects Omega and batarians are a sizeable proportion of her population. She employs them and profits off them. That's why I was expecting that she knew all about the study."

"While we wait, there's someone down the passageway in meeting room 2 who would like to see you." Cassidy got up and went out and to meeting room 2. Thane and Kolyat were sitting at the table. Cassidy went over to Thane. He offered his hand, she took it and pulled him up into a hug. She held it for a moment, then released him. "Its so good to see you, Thane. How are you?" "I have been fortunate. The new treatment has afforded me life anew." "So, what do you plan to do now?" Kolyat said, "I met a girl on Kahje. She has consented to become my wife. We are hoping you will come to our wedding."

Cassidy said, "When?" Thane said, "Six months. Besides the wedding though, I'm hoping you will allow me to rejoin the Normandy." Cassidy replied, "With so many gone back to their homeworlds, I'm thrilled to get someone coming back. The Normandy's off on mission, though. I'm not expecting them back for over a week yet. I'm staying on the Philippines in the meantime. Let me see about getting you on the books as crew, then you can come to the Philippines if you want to wait it out there with me." Cassidy got on her omni-tool, "Chesa." "Receiving you, Captain. What can we do for you?" "I wish to add a drell, Thane Krios, to my crew on the Normandy at the level of Lieutenant Commander." "Thane Krios is now listed as allied crew, on leave until the Normandy's return. He is authorized for entry onto the Philippines in the mean-time."

Thane said, "Well, you still have the knack to get things done. Kolyat and I will go down to the Presidium until you are ready to return, then I will come with you. Kolyat is going to return to Kahje in about an hour." Cassidy shook Kolyat's hand and said, "I look forward to seeing you again, Kolyat." "And I you, Captain."

Cassidy's omni-tool chirped, she checked, it was from Carter, saying Aria had sent a comm request. Cassidy said, "I need to get back to work here." She bowed slightly to them and left the room.

Cassidy stood in the QEC area. "Aria." "Cassidy. I have an arrangement worked out with Pazness. I have a suite that 4 salarians can use to work and live while they are here. I will provide security, and there will be room in the suite for 4 more security personnel if the salarians wish to bring their own. There will be no coersion of the batarians, they will participate only if they want to. Pazness agreed to offer an incentive to them. Bray can handle that. Bray should come with the salarians. You could visit, too, you know. There's a human chef here now, does the most delightful pastries." "I'll think about it Aria. Citadel out."

Cassidy returned to Carter's office. "Councilor, did you catch all that?" "I'm messaging Councilor Kavrol now, Captain." Carter finished the message and turned back to Cassidy. "Seeing as you are on light duty still, that's all I have for you today, Captain. Return after lunch tomorrow, please. You might want a new set of armor – go see Spectre requisitions, I believe they have something for you, co-developed with the geth." "Aye, aye, ma'am."


	68. Chapter 68

Chapter 68

Cassidy went out and down to C-Sec to requisitions. There was a new turian officer there, "ah, Captain Shepard Victus, we have been hoping to see you down here. We have some new armor for you. If you'll head over into that room there, we can make sure it fits you comfortably before you take it with you." Cassidy went through the door and a geth greeted her. "Captain, I am Pack. There is your armor. If you will put it on, then I can adjust the fit for you." Cassidy started putting it on.

She asked, "What are you doing here, Pack?" "I am employed here, Captain, to keep Spectre gear available and upgraded." Cassidy had the armor on and moved around a bit, "I think its loose behind my left shoulder." "You are correct, Captain, it is not as snug there as it should be. I am adjusting that section now. Try again." Cassidy did a combat roll and shrugged. "Seems good now." "Excellent. We have included the visor you have shown a preference for and put some of our programming in to help you coordinate things automatically, situationally and manually. Your suit VI can guide you through customizing your settings."

Cassidy was looking through the options on the visor screen, "Very nice, thanks." She took it off and packed it into its case. Pack said, "Captain, if you would come this way, I have tweaked the Incisor rifle you like." Cassidy walked over and picked up the rifle, which felt perfect in her hands. She had Pack signal it to bond to her. "Put the visor on and take the rifle to the range right through here." Cassidy put the visor on and when she brought the rifle up, it switched to life-signs targeting mode. She added electrical field detection and then targets started presenting themselves. The zoom scope worked just as she expected. "Awesome. Thank you, Pack. I'll let you know how it does in the field, when I get a chance." She packed the rifle into a bag with her armor. She said, "Pack, do you happen to have a geth plasma SMG here?" "No, Captain, but I will make sure one gets delivered to you on the Philippines this afternoon." "Thank you, Pack."

She left and texted Thane and Alliance control. She took the lift to the Presidium and Thane was there to join her when she stepped out to the elevator. A few moments later, an Alliance car settled in front of her. Thane said, "I suppose your problems on Illium caused your superiors to assign you drivers rather than risk you taking cabs." "Yep." Cassidy and Thane got in with their bags. "Maa's Flower Shop, please" The driver lifted the car and drove them around to the shop. Cassidy and Thane got out and went in the shop. Cassidy picked up the vase she had ordered the day before and went to the clerk and asked for a child's silk-flower crown with trailing ribbons and mini one for a teddy bear. It took about 20 minutes for them to be made.

Meanwhile, Cassidy led Thane next door to the dress shop. She asked for a dress in Wendy's size in a cream color. Pirisa came out and said, "Oh, Captain, is this for your new ward, for Administrator Sander's wedding?" Cassidy affirmed that it was so. Pirisa said, "If you will trust me, I will have something ready for when you come to get your dresses." They returned to the flower shop, collected the crowns and Cassidy added them to the bag with the vase.

Cassidy and Thane went back to the Alliance car. "To wherever Lt Dizzy Phelps is waiting with the shuttle."

Thane said, "May I ask about the crown, Cassidy?" "I took on a ward last night. Her name is Wendy, she's 4. The crown is for her to wear with her dress at Anderson and Sanders' wedding." "So now you are caring for two?" "Melanie doesn't need daily care anymore, not like Wendy. Melanie just started at Grissom Academy." "I look forward to meeting Melanie and Wendy."

When the shuttle docked, Chesa said, "Welcome to the Philippines, Thane Krios. You have been assigned to room 680, next door to Captain Shepard Victus."

Cassidy led Thane around to the daycare and left her bag with him in the passageway while she went in. She signed Wendy out and put her palm on the scanner. She waited about 5 minutes until Banks came out with Wendy. Cassidy put her arms out and Wendy came and put her arms up, still clutching Jenny. Cassidy picked Wendy up and put her on her hip. Wendy hugged her. Banks said, "Her activity report is available in your messages, Captain." Cassidy said, "Thank you, Banks"

Cassidy carried Wendy out to the passageway. She put Wendy down and said, "Wendy, this is my friend, Thane Krios. Thane, this is Wendy and Jenny." Thane said, "I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Wendy, and Jenny's too." Cassidy took her bag in one hand and Wendy in the other. She led Thane up to their rooms.

Cassidy took Wendy into their room. Cassidy asked Wendy to go to the bathroom. While Wendy was in there, Cassidy locked away her rifle and armor in the locker. She put the crowns on a hanger in the closet and the vase on the table. Wendy called out, "I can't reach." Cassidy went in and pulled out the steps for her. Wendy washed her hands and dried them, then turned to Cassidy, "Are you my new mommy?" "Did somebody ask you that at daycare?" Wendy nodded. Cassidy said, "Yes. I am your new mommy. You can call me 'Mommy' if you want. Is that what you want?" Wendy said, "My mommy didn't come. Mike said she won't come." Cassidy hugged Wendy. "I know, honey. The bad Reapers took away lots and lots of mommies and daddies. Melanie lost her mommy and daddy, too. My friends and I killed the bad Reapers dead."

She took Wendy's hand and led her out to the sitting room. She packed a bag with their swim wear, then took Wendy out into the passageway where Thane was waiting. She walked them to the mess hall. She looked around and spotted Tarin, Juran and Anita. She went to that table. Cassidy said, "Thane, this is Captain Tarin Woo, Commander Juran Arterius and Captain Anita Rodrigues. Folks, this is Thane Krios, one of my companions from the Normandy. I'm sorry to crash you guys together like this but Wendy and I have a lunch appointment with Dr Handyside." Tarin said, "Not to worry, Cassidy, we'll return Thane to you in one piece." Thane said, "I am pleased to meet Cassidy's friends. I'll get a tray and return here."

Cassidy took Wendy over to the corner table and dropped off the bag. Handyside was still in line. The booster seat wasn't there, so Cassidy looked around, finding it in a pile of stuff along the bulkhead. She went, got it and put it on Wendy's seat. Then she led Wendy over to the line.

Handyside was sitting when Cassidy and Wendy came back. Cassidy put the tray on the table and got Wendy arranged, introduced Handyside, then arranged herself. Handyside said, "I know you know this, but it bears saying, things get easier as they get older." Cassidy said, "Thanks, its all still new, so it isn't quite automatic yet." Handyside said, "Did she have nightmares last night?" "I'm not sure, but she crawled in with me in the middle of the night. So, maybe?"

Handyside asked, "Any issues from touching? Wendy, or the people in Klein's class?" "Nothing with her. With the class, its been all me touching them to correct their positions, and that only occasionally. The only time I had an issue was when Klein corrected me, the first day he was aboard. We'll get into more contact with the yellow belt next week."

Handyside said, "Your drell friend seems to be getting along with Tarin, Juran and Anita." Casidy said, "Tarin could make anyone feel welcome." "Who is he?" "Thane Krios. He helped us take down the Collectors and he saved the salarian councilor from a Cerberus assassin. He's re-joining the Normandy."

Wendy's gaze was on the table next to them, "Ice cream?" Cassidy looked and saw they had sundaes. Handyside said, "Allow me, please. What flavor, Cassidy?" "Chocolate sauce." "Wendy? What flavor do you want?" "Chocolate." Handyside went and collected three, all with chocolate sauce. He returned and passed them out. Handyside finished quickly and stood up, "Excuse me please, Cassidy. I can see that Tarin is itching to come talk to you and Wendy, so I'll go. I won't see you tomorrow but the day after, at lunch." Cassidy nodded and Handyside left.

Tarin and Anita came over and sat. Cassidy said, "Wendy, these are friends of mine. This is Tarin and this is Anita. Ladies, this is Wendy." Tarin said, "The link with that pic of you guys in the mall passed around the ship like wildfire this morning. Why didn't you tell us this was coming?" "It was at the back of my mind, but it became pressing yesterday after dinner, as Melanie brought to my attention. So, once I decided to do it, it just all came together. The youth home was incredibly cooperative." Anita said, "Somehow I can't imagine . . . "Oh, Captain Shepard Victus, NO, we have to verify your character and your employment." Tarin laughed.

Cassidy smiled as she wet a napkin in her water glass and wiped the chocolate from around Wendy's mouth. Cassidy said, "Yea, well if I had tried adopting before the Reapers came, they wouldn't have let me in the door." Tarin said, "That's all on the Alliance brass that was and the Council. By the way, is it adoption? The article said guardianship." "Not yet. I'm waiting on the adoption to get Garrus on board and do it together, with family pictures and such for her scrapbook."

Juran and Thane came over. Anita said, "Time to get back to work." Juran, Anita and Tarin left. Thane said, "What are your plans for this afternoon?" "I'm going to get her into the pool and see how well she can swim, if at all. Then I think she'll be tired enough for a nap." "Then I will get some exercise myself while you are in the pool. We can talk when she naps. Let me take your tray up." "Thanks. I'll text you when its time." Cassidy helped Wendy out of the chair and grabbed the swim bag.

Cassidy walked with Wendy to the exercise area and into the locker room. As they were getting ready a few of the women congratulated them. Cassidy took Wendy out to the pool and sat her at the edge. Cassidy got in and then got Wendy in with her. Wendy hung on to Cassidy tightly. Cassidy asked "Can you float?" Wendy shook her head. Cassidy said, "That's OK. I will help you learn. Let me turn you around." Cassidy turned Wendy so her back was to Cassidy's front. "Now stick your legs out straight, let your toes peek out of the water. Good. Now I'm going to hang on to you while you lay on your back. That's it, I've got you, I'm keeping hold of you. Stick your arms out and lay your head back to look at me. Good. I've still got you. Now I'm just going to walk backwards a bit with us." Cassidy wandered around the shallow free-swim section with Wendy laying out.

After awhile Cassidy took Wendy over to the wall, "Very good, sweetheart. Now grab the wall with your left hand. Good. Now lift your knees up, push your toes down under you, and lift your head up. Put your other hand on the edge. There, hang on. Now I'm going to let go. You're fine." A swimmer dove in at the other end in the nearest lane and freestyled his way down, flipped, pushed off, and swam back. Wendy watched him.

Cassidy said, "Someday you will be able to swim like that, if you want to." Wendy stuck her toes up and looked at them. Then she laid her head back and released the far hand. Cassidy said, "Very good. Push your tummy up. Nice and flat." Wendy used her free hand to grab Cassidy's hand, then she let go of the wall. Cassidy let her float like that for a bit. She turned Wendy so her head was toward the edge, "Stick that arm straight up by your ear, reach for the wall, I'm going to push you towards the wall, keep your tummy up until you grab the wall, ready? Ok, I'm pushing." Cassidy pushed on the bottom of Wendy's shoe and pushed her toward the wall. Wendy grabbed on and let her head bump gently into the wall. She righted herself and hung on with both hands. Cassidy clapped "Yay! You might be one of those people who swims easy, like a fish."

Next Cassidy had Wendy doing a front float with her head out of the water. Eventually she had Wendy pushing off the wall with her feet and reaching for Cassidy, who caught her. Cassidy decided that was enough for the day. She swam walked Wendy over steps and took her to shower and change in the locker room.

Wendy was yawning by the time they got back to their suite. Cassidy helped her into bed and kissed her hair. "I'll stay in the next room until nap time is done." Wendy closed her eyes and shortly was out.

Cassidy stretched and went into the sitting room. She texted Thane. She checked her messages while she waited. There was one from Lee, asking if she, Wendy, and Thane would join him at dinner. She had another from Captain Yaniss on the Baton Rouge, "Captain Shepard Victus, per Admiral Hackett's suggestion, I am sending you the service record of one of my kitchen staff, PO2 Zoe McAnally. She wants to leave kitchen duty for child care. I don't have a need for daycare yet, but apparently you now do. If you would like to come aboard to talk with her, just let me know. Captain Yaniss."

Chesa said, "Thane has arrived, Captain." "Let him in." Thane walked in with a covered bowl. He stopped at the table and uncovered the bowl, "Trail mix." Then he sat opposite her. Cassidy asked, "Has anybody asked you to join them for dinner?" "No, why?" "XO Lee Carruthers has asked you and me and Wendy. Should I tell him yes?" "That is agreeable to me." Cassidy replied to Lee's message.

Cassidy said, "What do you want to know about first?" "Why don't we start back when I left the Normandy." The conversation went from there, catching up with each other.


	69. Chapter 69

Chapter 69

The daily flower delivery came. Cassidy didn't recognize the stalk of pink star shaped flowers. She read the note from Joker "Captain, my choice is called Viscaria, which EDI tells me means, 'Invitation to dance.' " Cassidy laughed. She explained about the flowers to Thane then read the note aloud. Thane smiled. Cassidy went to the bathroom and filled her new vase with water, then she returned and moved the flowers from the other vase, added the new stalk and put them all in the new vase. She went and rinsed out the smaller vase.

Wendy came out of the door and went into the bathroom. When she came out, Cassidy said, "Find your brush on the table by your bed and bring it here. I need to brush out your hair." Wendy got the brush and brought it. Cassidy carefully brushed out the incipient tangles. While she was brushing, Wendy said, "Flowers are pretty." Cassidy said, "Thank you, they are pretty." She paused with the brush and pointed out each one and told her the name of the flower and who it was from. She resumed brushing until all the curls were free.

Cassidy said, "I need to go check out a potential crew member over on the Baton Rouge. I'm going to put her in the daycare while I'm over there. Do you want to accompany me?" "If you don't mind, Cassidy, perhaps I could care for Wendy while you are on the Baton Rouge. We could look at flowers in the garden." "I don't mind. Why don't you and she go now then and I'll get this done. Wendy, Thane is going to stay with you while I work for a little while. I'll be back and we'll go to dinner." Thane came around the table and held his hand out to Wendy. Wendy looked at Cassidy and Cassidy kissed Wendy on the head and said, "Go on with Thane. I'll be back." Thane took Wendy out of the door.

Cassidy said, "Chesa, get me Captain Yaniss on the Baton Rouge." "One moment please, Captain." Yaniss' voice, "Ah, Captain Shepard Victus, coming over to relieve me of a crewman?" "That's the plan. I'm heading for the shuttle bay." "I'll pull McAnally for you." "Shepard Victus out. Chesa, get me flight control." "Captain Woo. Oh, Cassidy, what do you need?" "Tarin, I need a shuttle over to the Baton Rouge and back, now." "Just a sec. Yo, Dizzy! You still on for Captain Shepard Victus? Then jump to it, she's coming! Alright Cassidy, Dizzy will be ready for you in Bay 3." "Thanks, Tarin."

Cassidy cleared up quickly and went to the shuttle bay. She found Dizzy with engines going in bay 3. "To the Baton Rouge, Dizzy." "Heading out, Captain." It was a quick flight. Cassidy looked over McAnally's service record, finding nothing extraordinary. 15 minutes later they were docked in the Baton Rouge. Evette said, "Welcome, Captain. Captain Yaniss has granted you permission to board. Petty Officer McAnally is waiting for you in a conference room on Deck 3. Do you want running lights?" "After I get to Deck 3, Evette." "Very well."

Cassidy got to the conference room and McAnally stood and saluted, "Petty Officer, 3rd rank, Zoe McAnally, ma'am." Cassidy saluted her back, "At ease, Petty Officer." Cassidy went and sat across from her, "Tell me why you want to move to daycare." "Aye, aye, ma'am. I grew up on a farm in Kansas. My aunt ran a daycare and when I was in high school, I went to work for her over the summers and breaks, when they would have extra school-age kids in there. When I joined the Alliance, I thought I would be done with that, but I'm finding that I miss that work, with the kids."

Cassidy pulled up the service record again, scanned it, then closed it again. "McAnally, go get your bags packed and meet me at the flight deck. Evette get me Captain Yaniss." "Yaniss." "I'm taking McAnally." Yaniss said, "Reassigning PO3 Zoe McAnally to the Normandy, under the command of Captain Shepard Victus." Evette said, "Reassignment recorded, Captains." Cassidy said, "Evette, get me XO Carruthers on the Philippines." "Carruthers. Cassidy, what do you need?" "I need my new crewmember, PO3 Zoe McAnally to be assigned a bunk and assigned to daycare training. I'm bringing her aboard with me." "I'll get that all set up by the time you two get here." "Thanks, Lee. Shepard Victus out."

Cassidy walked back to the flight deck and waited for McAnally. 15 minutes later, McAnally came with her duffel bag. They boarded and Dizzy flew them back to the Philippines. Once the arrived, Chesa said, "Welcome back, Captain. Congregation is waiting for you on the flight deck. Welcome to the Philippines, Petty Officer McAnally. Please follow the yellow running lights to your bunk. You will begin duty tomorrow 0730."

McAnally got out, grabbed her bags and found her running lights. Cassidy asked "Chesa, where are Thane and Wendy?" "They are in the gardens, Captain." "Thank you." Cassidy texted Thane that she would meet him in the gardens. She stepped out of the shuttle and saw Congregation waiting for her with a package. "Congregation." "Captain, the plasma SMG you requested. Pack hopes you will be pleased with its synchronization with your visor system." Cassidy accepted the package from Congregation. "Thank you." "Our pleasure, Captain."

When she found them, they were sitting at a picnic table near the beds of tulips. Thane looked up and waved Cassidy over. As Cassidy approached, she saw Wendy had a pair of tulip buds in her hand, the ends wrapped. Wendy saw her and said, "Mommy, Thane got me and Jenny flowers. They will uncurl later." Cassidy spotted a worker, "Seaman, could I have a couple packets of cut flower nutrients, please?" "Aye, aye, Captain." The worker went to a cabinet, pulled out a drawer and got a couple packets then handed them to Cassidy.

Cassidy said, "Let's go put your flowers in a vase in our rooms." Cassidy took Wendy's hand and Thane stood. They went to their rooms. Cassidy said, "We'll meet you back out here in about 10 minutes for dinner." Thane said, "Very good. I will be ready."

Cassidy and Wendy went into their room. Cassidy locked the package up in her locker. Wendy put Jenny on a chair and then climbed up on another chair and reached for the empty vase. Cassidy said, "Just a minute, pumpkin, let me put water and nutrients in here, then we take the wrappings off, then you can put your flowers in the vase." Cassidy picked up the vase, took it to the bathroom sink. She put water in and brought it back to the table. She opened one of the nutrient packets and poured the crystals into the water.

Cassidy said, "Give me one flower so I can get the wrapping off for you." Wendy handed her one flower, "The lady said, 'Don't squish the stems.' " Cassidy said, "I will be gentle." Cassidy carefully unwrapped the first flower then traded flowers with Wendy. She unwrapped the second one and and handed it back to Wendy, "Now this is a two-handed operation. See how you are holding your flowers in the middle, now take your other hand and gently keep the bottoms together with your fingers. That's right, don't squish. Now guide the bottom into the vase, then slide the flowers together down in there. That's far enough, you can let go." Cassidy placed Wendy's tulips next to her flowers.

Wendy said, "Where is Garrus?" Cassidy asked, "What do you know about Garrus?" "Garrus sent the rose. Thane says Garrus is your husband." "Garrus is on the Normandy. The Normandy is on a mission. I am here because I was hurt and needed to get better. There's a bunch of us waiting for the Normany, me, you, Thane, Lt Norquist, and Petty Officer McAnally, so far." "When will Garrus come?" "Probably about a little more than a week."

Cassidy said, "Are you hungry? I'm hungry." Wendy climbed off, grabbed Jenny and went to the door. "Thane's eating dinner with us." "Yes, that's right." Wendy opened the door and they went into the passageway. Thane came out and joined them. Cassidy took Wendy's hand and they went to the mess hall.

Lee was waiting for them. Cassidy said, "Captain Lee Carruthers, this is Wendy and Jenny, and this is Thane Krios. Thane, Wendy, this is Captain Carruthers, the Philippines XO." Lee shook Thane's hand. "Let's go get in line."

When Cassidy and Wendy had their tray ready, they followed Lee to a table that already had a booster seat ready for Wendy. Cassidy got Wendy set up, deciding that this was starting to feel routine. Thane arrived and sat and Cassidy got herself set up. Lee asked, "Has Tarin threatened to teach you bridge, Thane?" "In fact she did. She and Anita are hoping to play this evening." Lee said, "Well, Cassidy, are you going to make the 4th then?" Cassidy said, "I shouldn't. I'm expecting a call from my mother this evening. She wants to meet Wendy."

Lee said, "Well then, I'll be the 4th, at least until your call is done, Cassidy."

Cassidy said, "Thane's son will be getting married in six months." Lee said, "Just do whatever the bride says. Wear this, stand there, pay for that." Thane said, "I take it that you have children recently married." Conversation went from there.

Cassidy saw Melanie, Huiqing, Mike and that other boy come in. She noticed that Mike was smiling and animated. She felt relief. Mike saw Wendy and waved. Wendy didn't see, so Cassidy pointed and got her to wave. Cassidy didn't think Wendy had recognized him, though.

Melanie stopped by with her tray. Cassidy said, "Melanie, this is my friend Thane Krios. Thane, this is my daughter, Melanie." Melanie said, "Hi Mr Krios. Hi Wendy! Hi Captain Carruthers. Mom, we're going to teach Kevin to play bridge tonight." "Kevin is the other boy at your table?" "Yes, he's in our group in class." "Go eat. Wendy and I are going to talk to Grandma Hannah tonight." "Oh, right, she said last night that she would call. Tell her I said hi." Melanie went to her table.

They finished dinner. Lee said, "I'll take your tray." Tarin and Anita came up. Tarin said, "Cassidy, you gonna help us teach Thane?" "No, that's Lee's honor tonight. We have a family call scheduled." Cassidy helped Wendy down.

Cassidy walked Wendy back to their room. She said "Chesa, please send a comm request to Rear Admiral Hannah Shepard on Palaven." "Sending comm request, Captain. Please wait." Cassidy sat with Wendy on her lap and pulled up her omni-tool. "Is there a show you like?" "Giselle's Spaceship" Cassidy searched for it and said, "Do you want to start from episode 1?" "OK." Cassidy pulled it up and watched it with Wendy. It was basically a space exploration story from a kid's (Giselle) point of view. Cassidy was about to pull up episode 2, when Chesa said, "Patching Admiral Shepard in."

Cassidy switched to the comm view. The screen was snowy but then it resolved to show Hannah and Adrien. Cassidy said, "Wendy, that is Grandma Hannah and Grandfather Adrien. Mom, Father, this is Wendy." Hannah said, "Hello Wendy! How was your day today?" Wendy said, "I swam with Mommy. Thane gave me flowers." Adrien asked, "Who is Thane?" Hannah said, "One of the Normandy's crew from the Collector mission." Cassidy said, "Thane is rejoining us."

Hannah asked, "So, Cassidy if you have any reservations about including us in the family ceremony, please say so. We can do a separate one." "No, Mom, I have no reservations. I'm sure that Rahana can add in the appropriate lines, and we'll let Kaleera know in case she wants to add something to your dress. We have to let Kaleera measure Wendy, too."

Hannah asked, "How is the Salk'nam coming?" Cassidy said, "Coming along. There was an accident over there, but I imagine you've been copied on all the reports about that." Hannah said, "Yes, you'll have to give me a more detailed version when I get back, which is going to be in a few days. I want some time with Wendy before the Normandy comes back. We have to cut this short. We are attending the reopening of the Cipritine City Theater tonight. I'll be in touch later about my return. Love you, Wendy! Love you, Cassidy!" Adrien said, "Take care, Cassidy. I am glad to meet you, Wendy." "Bye Mom, Father." Wendy said "Bye."

Hackett's voice, "Captain, if you would like to use our QEC to the Normandy, it is available at this time." "Yes, I would, Admiral. I'll head to the comm room now. Thank you." Cassidy took Wendy's hand and said, "Let's go talk to Garrus."

Cassidy had Chesa lead them to the comm room. Once there, the comm officer directed them into the appropriate room, "Sending comm request, Captain." Cassidy waited with Wendy just outside the viewable area, "You will stand right here. I will step over there and then call you to come to me when we're ready, OK?"

On the Normandy, Garrus was playing laser tag with James and Javik and several of the marines. EDI's voice on Garrus' omni-tool said, "Cassidy is available on the QEC on the Philippines." Garrus sent out a signal that he was leaving the game. Javik said, "I was just about to take you out!" Garrus said, "Call coming in from our Captain."

Garrus quickly got the laser gear off and Ken said, "I'll put this away for you, you go." Garrus went up the elevator and around to the comm room. He stepped up and said "EDI, accept the comm request."

On the Philippines, Garrus' image appeared. Cassidy stepped into the viewable area.

Garrus said, "Cassidy, love, how are you?" "I am doing well, Garrus. There are still things the docs are working on, but I'm doing small things duty-wise." "I so glad to hear that you are doing better." "There is someone here you need to meet." Cassidy turned and beckoned to Wendy.

Garrus saw Cassidy turn and encourage someone to come into view. He saw a young girl come in and Cassidy picked her up and balanced her on her hip. Cassidy said, "Garrus, this is Wendy Ann Haverline, my new ward. Wendy, this is Garrus." Garrus was speechless for a moment. Then he said, "Hello Wendy. Cassidy, when did this happen?" Cassidy said, "About 24 hours ago. Her cousin, Mike, is in Grissom, friends with Melanie. Wendy and Mike were in an orphanage on Eden Prime. Mike was suffering severe emotional distress because he was supposed to protect Wendy, but he had to leave her behind when he came to Grissom. Melanie convinced me to bring Wendy over." Garrus said, "She is so young, Cassidy. I do not think we should leave it at guardianship, do you?" Cassidy smiled, "That's exactly the sentiment I hoped you would have. So, I want to be clear, you're suggesting we adopt her here and now?" Garrus said, "Definitely."

Garrus thought a moment then asked, "Um, EDI, how long would it take to send a full-color image over the QEC?" EDI said "It will take a few minutes, if sent between the bits that are being exchanged in your conversation." Garrus said, "Cassidy, would you take a pic of you two and start sending it so I can show it around when I tell the others?" Cassidy said, "Just a moment . . . Chesa, I need a notary public up here please." The comm officer said, "I am a notary public, Captain." Cassidy said, "Excellent! While I take care of this picture, you can get ready to lead us through the adoption." Cassidy set her omni-tool and said, "Wendy, look at my hand out there. Think of that puppy licking Giselle." Wendy giggled and Cassidy took the picture, then set it to stream to Garrus.

The comm officer said "Ready? This is an adoption proceeding. The subject of the adoption is Wendy Ann Haverline, age 4, verified war orphan by Jorine Youth Home on Eden Prime. Birth mother of record is Jessica Erin Haverline, deceased due to Reaper attack on Tip Tree. Birth father not recorded and declared null due to lack of paternity discovery or claim. Wendy is below the age of consent. Who is Wendy's guardian?" Cassidy said, "I, Cassidy Shepard Victus am Wendy's guardian." "Do you, Captain Shepard Victus voluntarily agree to take on the rights and responsibilities of parent to Wendy?" Cassidy said, "I do." "As Captain Shepard's spouse, do you, Advisor Garrus Vakarian, also accept the rights and responsibilities of parent to Wendy?" Garrus said, "I do." "Then by the responsibilities entrusted to me as notary public, I have witnessed this adoption and now declare Wendy to be your daughter. How should I record her new name?" Cassidy said, "Wendy Ann Haverline Shepard Victus Vakarian." The comm officer said, "We're done. Congratulations!"

Cassidy smiled at Wendy. "Garrus is your new daddy!" Wendy turned her gaze from the comm officer to Garrus' image. She said, "When are you coming, daddy?" Garrus said, "Probably a little more than a week, honey. I love you, Wendy. I'll come back as soon as I can."

Cassidy said, "Tell Dr Chakwas that we are getting her a new medical assistant and we're going to have a daycare crewmember, so Gabby will be able to stay on board. I'm hunting for a propulsion engineer for her to train." "I'll pass that along." "Thane is rejoining us." Wendy said, "Thane gave me flowers." Cassidy said, "Which reminds me, thanks for the flowers, they have made me smile every day when they come." Garrus said,"I'll let Liara know."

Cassidy said, "And my mother and Adrien Victus announced their engagement. I said they could add onto our family ceremony." Garrus said, "I believe my father will be accommodating."

The comm officer said, "We need the room, Captain."

Cassidy said, "Did you get the image?" Garrus said, "Nearly there . . . got it!" Cassidy said, "I'll call again when I can. I love you!" Garrus said, "and I love you. Tell Melanie to join you next time. Normandy out."

Cassidy thanked the comm officer. She put Wendy down and walked with her out to the elevator. She decided to head to the game room to see who might still be playing bridge.

They got there to find both groups still playing. Tarin called out, "Hey, Cassidy and Wendy! How is Admiral Shepard?" Cassidy said, "She is well. She says she'll be here in a few days." Wendy let go of Cassidy's hand and went over to Mike. She said, "Mike! I have a new mommy and a new daddy!" Mike said, "That's great, Wendy! I'm happy for you!" Lee said, "So, you talked to Garrus on QEC?" Cassidy said, "Yes, Admiral Hackett gave us some time. We got the adoption done." Melanie said, "Wendy! I'm your sister now!"

Lee called down to the galley for cupcakes. He got up and Cassidy took his seat at the table, which was across from Tarin. Cassidy asked "Are you enjoying the game, Thane?" "There are measures of teamwork, luck, and skill. It will take me some time before I am proficient." Anita said, "He's doing fine for his first night."

They played a couple hands before the cupcakes arrived. Both tables took a break. Tarin raised her cupcake and said, "Here's to Wendy as the newest Shepard Victus Vakarian." Everybody ate cupcake. Lee got Melanie and Wendy to go by Cassidy and he took a picture, sending a copy to Cassidy and Melanie. They went back to cards and finished the games at each table.

Cassidy stood up, went over and picked up a yawning Wendy. Cassidy said, "I think its bedtime. Good night all." Melanie came up and hugged Cassidy and Wendy. Thane left with them. They went to their respective rooms and Cassidy got Wendy prepped and tucked in bed. She kissed Wendy's head and Jenny's, too. Wendy yawned big and closed her eyes.

Cassidy went to her note to Garrus and wrote. She sent a message, addressing it to Garvin, Hannah and Adrien, telling them about the adoption, and attaching the pictures that she and Lee had taken. She dug out into her bag and found that her white face paint was there. She carefully traced her Victus pattern, then called it a night.


	70. Chapter 70

Chapter 70

Garrus stood in the comm room as the image of Cassidy and Wendy faded away, looking at the image she had sent to his omni-tool, memorizing Wendy's face. He thought about where Wendy would sleep. Certainly not on another deck, not at her age, assuming human children were anything like turian children, not that he knew much about turian children beyond his fuzzy memories of Solana at that age, not that his viewpoint then had been dispassionate because she had been quite annoying to his 9 year-old self.

Garrus took a deep breath, realizing that he needed to focus. He thought about the crew and decided that Dr Chakwas was probably the most knowledgeable about human 4 year olds. Besides she should hear the news anyway. He asked, "EDI, where is Dr Chakwas?" "Dr Chakwas is in the lounge."

Garrus went to the lounge where he found Adams and Chakwas playing backgammon. Samantha, Gabby, Parveen and Solana were playing bridge. Solana looked up at him, then looked again and put her cards down. "What's eating you, Garrus?" Everybody turned to look at him. Garrus straightened up and said, "Cassidy and I have just adopted our second child. A 4 year old human girl named Wendy." He pulled up the image of Cassidy and Wendy and showed it around.

Garrus let the shower of congratulations and compliments wash over him, saying thanks. He relayed as much as he could remember about what Cassidy had said about the circumstances of taking Wendy on, which wasn't much, he thought. He said, "Dr Chakwas, what are 4 year olds like?" Chakwas said, "Honestly Garrus, I'm not sure I can answer you very well. I haven't been around any young children for well, at least 25 years."

Parveen said, "4 year olds are very curious and fun, imaginative, sometimes going from solo exploration to clinging to mom or dad and back. At least that's what little I remember from my freshman child development class last year." Garrus said, "OK, so at night she'll be expected to what . . . sleep all night in her own bed, or to sleep with us or what?" Adams said, "My nephew would start in his own bed and sometimes stay there, but sometimes crawl in with his folks, if he had a nightmare. My sister-in-law said that was expected because of the rich fantasy their imagination could bring up and a kid that age doesn't always know fantasy from reality." "So, she needs access to us?" Dr Chakwas said, "I think that sounds about right, yes, access."

Garrus said, "EDI, could you bring up a view of the area around the elevator on Deck 1?" Adams looked over at the image. Garrus said, "What do you think Adams? We could move everything on this side of the elevator and back to give maybe 4 meters of standing space, less as she grows?" Adams answered, "Yes and we could move your door 90 degrees so that the walk from her space to the bathroom will be behind the door." Gabby said, "You'll need some sort of step up so she can reach the sink." Garrus said, "Adams, if you're interested, why don't we go to the comm room to draft plans. I'll get Clowder and Cortez." Gabby said, "Don't think you can leave me out of this." Dr Chakwas said, "I wouldn't mind looking on, either." Solana said, "Maybe you should get Clowder and Cortez in here and just keep on with what you have already started."

Garrus said, "Ok, I see your point. EDI, please invite Clowder and Cortez to join us if they wish." Clowder and Cortez did come. Parveen and Samantha left. Ken joined in. The group talked long into the night, and had a plan of action ready when they broke up to head for bed.

Cassidy woke and found Wendy still asleep. She checked the time and found she had woken early. She got up, removed the excess face paint, showered and dressed. Wendy stirred as Cassidy was getting her boots on. Cassidy said, "Good morning, pumpkin." She helped Wendy get ready. As Wendy was getting her shoes on, she asked, "What's that, Mommy?" Cassidy saw that Wendy was pointing at her pistol. "Its a gun. Its part of my job as a Spectre, to help defend." "Like the police?" "Yes, cities tell police what to do, the Citadel Council tells Spectres what to do." "Is Daddy a Specte, too?" "Yes, he is." "You look kind-of like Grandpa." "I refreshed my Victus paint pattern last night."

Cassidy took Wendy's hand and took her to the mess hall. She didn't see Klein yet. She and Wendy got their breakfast and went to the corner table. Wendy said, "I will get my seat." and she went to the corner and got a booster seat and carried it back. Cassidy pulled out the chair and Wendy put the booster seat up there and then climbed up into it. Cassidy set out the bowls and plates for them both. Still no Klein. She sat and started on her oatmeal. She saw Thane come in. He got a tray and went to sit with Anita and Lee.

Her omni-tool chirped and she checked the message. It was from Klein, "Captain, I'm dealing with an emergency. If I am not at class, you conduct it. Col. Klein." Cassidy felt both concerned and relieved that she didn't have to deal with the emergency this time. Wendy said, "Where is Colonel Klein?" "He has emergency work."

Tarin and Juran came in. Tarin came by and said, "Is Klein delayed?" Wendy said, "He has emergency work." Tarin asked, "Mind if we join you then?" Cassidy replied, "Please do." Tarin and Juran came back with their trays. Juran inquired, "Captain, am I correct that you will conduct class if Col. Klein is unable?" Cassidy answered, "Yes, Juran, you are correct." Juran nodded.

Tarin said, "The morning news says those xenophobes on Earth are threatening something 'bring attention to their cause.' " Cassidy said, "Hmm, my guess is they've got a leader with a messiah complex. That usually ends up with violence. Here's hoping that's not the case here." Wendy looked at Tarin, "Are you a Spectre, too?" Tarin said, "No, honey, I'm just in charge of the flight deck. The only Spectre on this ship right now is your mommy, as far as I know."

After breakfast, Tarin took Cassidy's tray. Cassidy cleaned Wendy's face and helped her down. Wendy asked, "Do you have to work?" "Yes." "Will you come for lunch?" "I plan to, unless I get emergency work." Cassidy walked with Wendy to daycare and signed her in. Petty Officer McAnally came out and collected Wendy. Cassidy waved goodbye and left.

Cassidy jogged to her room to change for the class. She managed to arrive about 5 minutes earlier than usual. Klein was not there. She conducted the class, making sure they were all ready to be tested. She went back, showered and changed back to her fatigues. Admiral Hackett's voice, "Captain, the Council would like a word in the comm room." "Coming, Admiral."

Cassidy went to the comm room and was waved on in. Cassidy waited while their images came up. Carter began, "Captain, there has been a kidnapping. A car with an asari, two turians, a salarian and a human, all students at Cambridge, was on it way to class. They were forced off the road and taken at gunpoint into another vehicle. That vehicle drove to another area and the students were forced into a shuttle. That shuttle took off and is heading outbound on auto-pilot, currently at sub-light speed. The group claiming credit is asking to speak with you, Captain. They claim the shuttle is rigged to evacuate the air on a signal from them. We are hoping you can resolve the situation peacefully." "I'll do my best to bring all our people out safely, Councilors."

On a different pad, an image of a man came up. "Captain Shepard." "And you are?" "I lead a sizeable group of concerned citizens. We do not want aliens and alien sympathizers taking up university resources meant for us. So, we have shipped off the first group of them." "Now what?" "You will get the Citadel Council to order all their people off of Earth. That order will come within the hour or we will space those students. If you interfere with the shuttle, we will detonate an explosive inside. Your time is ticking." The image went out. Cassidy turned to the Council. "You must not give in, Councilors. I will secure the safety of the students." Tevos said, "Good luck, Captain."

Cassidy said "Chesa, get Kiepja on the comm. Congregation, get all the geth off the Selk'nam. Admiral Hackett, evacuate the workers off the Selk'nam." Kiepja's voice, "Captain, how can I help you?" "Kiepja, are you capable of short FTL?" Kiepja said, "Yes, Captain, the drive core is functional, though it is not yet fully shielded." "Kiepja, once the geth and the organic workers have left, I will signal you to jump ahead of the path of the shuttle. You will need to position the Selk'nam so that the shuttle will fly into one of the docking bays. Chesa?" "Yes, Captain?" "Are you capable of hacking the VI of the shuttle and taking control?" "I believe so, but I will link in Congregation to assist." "Once the shuttle clears the barrier far enough to safely open the doors, take over, download and start an automatic process to dock and open the doors. This operation needs to happen before the shuttle crashes through the flight deck." Chesa said, "Understood, Captain"

Cassidy continued, "Kiepja, can you block incoming signals to the shuttle?" Faculty's voice, "Captain, I am still aboard the Selk'nam. I can assist Kiepja to block incoming signals to the shuttle if I remain." Cassidy said, "Thank you, Faculty. Once Chesa has started the automatic process, block the incoming signals. If the sequence of events happens fast enough, we should be able to prevent spacing and explosion. Let us know when you're ready, Kiepja."

Kiepja said, "Faculty and I are ready." Chesa said, "Congregation and I are ready." Cassidy said, "3, 2 , 1, GO!"

Kiepja had already turned the Selk'nam to the necessary orientation. She jumped, coming in so close the nose of the shuttle was entering the docking bay when she arrived. Chesa and Congregation took control, downladed the program and started it. Faculty got close enough to boost Kiepja's jamming field.

Chesa said, "Faculty and Kiepja are maintaining the jamming field. The students are exiting the shuttle now, Captain. I am directing them to leave the flight deck. Faculty is entering the shuttle, now he is exiting the shuttle and walking away from it." Faculty said, "I have programmed the shuttle to maintain the jamming signal with Kiepja. However, I cannot scan for the explosive while the field is up." Cassidy said, "If you go back inside the field, can you program the shuttle to do a delayed automatic departure?" Faculty said, "Yes, Captain. That is easily done." Cassidy replied, "Then do so, delaying the departure long enough for you to get off and out of range." "Going now, Captain."

Faculty said, "The shuttle is departing now." Cassidy said, "Faculty, how far can Kiepja keep that jamming field in place?" Faculty replied, "The field strength is attenuating, Captain. It will be too weak very soon. . . . The shuttle just exploded, Captain." Cassidy said, "Kiepja, any damage to the Selk'nam?" Kiepja's voice, "Just some debris of the shuttle hitting the outer hull. Minor damage."

Cassidy said, "Admiral, I am heading to a shuttle to go collect the students. I return this show to you. Permission to bring the students aboard?" "Permission granted, Captain. Impressive work, Captain, Chesa, Congregation, Kiepja and Faculty." Cassidy said, "Flight control." Tarin's voice, "What can we do for you Captain?" "I'm heading for a shuttle now." "We'll have one prepped and ready for you, Captain. Bay 2"

Cassidy left the comm room to the applause of the bridge crew. She smiled and waved at them and then took herself to the flight deck and Bay 2. She got in and said, "Lt Reynolds. Let's go to the Selk'nam." "Aye, aye, ma'am."

Reynolds docked the shuttle very smoothly. Cassidy got out and Faculty greeted her. He took her to the pilots' ready room, where the students were waiting. The human got up and shook her hand, "Thank you so much, Captain Shepard Victus." The turians did likewise, but stared at her pattern while they did. The asari hugged her and said, "I'm sure you spent more time planning than the operation took. It was just seconds from the time we suddenly saw a docking bay in front of us to the time we were exiting the shuttle. Thank you." The salarian shook her hand and said, "Exhilarating. Dismaying. Not again. Thank you."

Cassidy directed them to the shuttle. She entered after them and took the co-pilot seat. "Back to the Philippines, Lieutenant." "Lifting off, Captain."

As they docked, Cassidy saw a golf cart with Dr Handyside behind the wheel. Chesa said, "Students, we have a ride waiting for you. Please board the cart once you disembark from the shuttle." Cassidy waited for the students to get out. She said, "Very smoothly done, Lieutenant. Thank you. I may need you after lunch." Reynolds said, "I'll be ready for you, Captain."

Cassidy got out and started walking to the daycare. On the way she messaged Councilor Carter, "Still want me to report after lunch?" The reply came almost immediately, "No, Captain, the afternoon is yours. That was very nice work. I'll contact you when I need you again."


	71. Chapter 71

Chapter 71

Cassidy checked the time. She had over an hour before lunch. She decided to leave Wendy where she was for the time being and went to the garden and took a seat over by the orchids. She composed a message to Tali, attaching the pics, asking if she knew of a young quarian propulsion engineer to learn under then fill in for Gabby. Admiral Hackett sent a message asking her and Wendy to take lunch with him. She accepted.

She sent a message to Wrex with the pics, letting him know that if he wanted to place one of his people on the Normandy, she was open to the idea. Then she sent a general message with the pics to to all the other former team members.

She got a message from Grissom Academy, informing parents of students that one of the student body had attempted suicide in the early hours of the morning. That student was recovering and would receive continuing care. Students were not allowed to send out messages just yet, but counseling was available. Meanwhile, classes were continuing. Cassidy thought about Melanie and knew that she must be hurting.

"Cassidy?" Cassidy looked up and saw Thane had joined her at the table. "Thane." "You were focused on your message and looked concerned." Cassidy said, "A Grissom student attempted suicide. I was hoping that Melanie is coping okay." "My sympathies." "Its hard. Over the years, I know of 3 people I knew in youth that committed suicide. One I was in school with at the time. I still feel grief over her all these years later when I think about it." Thane said, "At least you have that much to share with Melanie." "I suppose so."

Thane asked, "Do you have plans for lunch?" "Admiral Hackett asked me and Wendy up." "Very well, then I will accept Lee's invitation." Cassidy said, "I should go collect Wendy." "I will see you later then."

Cassidy went to the daycare and signed Wendy out. McAnally brought Wendy out. Wendy came, took Cassidy's hand and led her to the door. Cassidy asked, "Hungry, are you?" They got into the passageway. "Mommy, will you paint me?" "If you want. Who said something about paint?" "Joey said Garrus is not my daddy."

Cassidy said, "Sometimes, people say hurtful things. My guess is that Joey is jealous of you. Just because Joey says something hurtful does NOT mean its true, just hurtful. You are entitled to the Victus and Vakarian patterns and I will help you put them on if you want. But if you don't want them that's okay, you are still a Victus Vakarian. Joey's thoughts are his own problem, not yours."

Cassidy said, "We have been invited to lunch with Admiral Hackett. Let's go eat." Cassidy took Wendy up to Hackett's quarters. Hackett, "Captain, come on in." He leaned down and put his hand out and Wendy shook it. Hackett said, "Welcome to my ship, Miss Haverline Shepard Victus Vakarian. Your chair is over here." Hackett showed Wendy a chair with a booster seat in it. Wendy climbed up into it. Cassidy and Hackett sat.

They were served, then Hackett said, "Wendy, you can be proud of your mom. She saved the lives of 5 people this morning." Wendy looked from Hackett to Cassidy, "How, Mommy?" "I figured out how to keep their shuttle safe until they could get off." "Spectres help defend." Hackett said, "That's correct, Wendy. Speaking of Spectres, Lt Commander Ashley Williams apprehended the man behind the shuttle problem, just a half hour ago." Cassidy said, "Good. Do you know where they got the shuttle?" He said, "The investigation is still ongoing. There are others that helped carry this out that have gone to ground."

Hackett said, "Captain, I want to rotate out your marines on the Normandy. I want Lieutenant Vega to get some specialized N7 training. You may select a dozen of our marines here. You played laser tag with a dozen, that would be a quick and easy pick, as they've seen you in action in the game, but feel free to explore further if you wish." Cassidy said, "I suspect my KP civilian employee will want to follow Vega, so I'll need to pick a KP person as well." "That's fine, Captain. Take who you need. I also want to take your shuttle and replace it with 2 new ones the geth have built for us. You may select a pilot for the additional shuttle."

Hackett asked, "Have you found a propulsion engineer yet?" Cassidy checked her messages. There was a reply from Tali saying she did have someone for the Normandy. Cassidy said, "Admiral Tali'Zorah has a quarian for me, a Soth'Falin." Hackett said, "We'll bring him in at Ensign level while he trains, then you can adjust that as you see fit." "Yes, sir."

Hackett turned to Wendy, "Do you like chocolate cream pie?" Wendy looked at Cassidy with a question in her eyes. Cassidy said, "You will like it, sweetheart." and Wendy did like it very much.

After lunch, Cassidy gave Wendy some more swimming practice. When Wendy was napping, Cassidy pulled up the service records of the marines that had played laser tag with her. She read through them all and didn't see anything that turned her off, so she tagged them all for reassignment. She made a note of their leader, Lt Andrew Jackson. She sent Jackson a message requesting he come for a chat.

Jackson arrived about 10 minutes later. Cassidy let him in and they sat at the table. Jackson said, "What can I do for you, Captain?" "Hackett is rotating out the marine contingent on the Normandy. You will lead the incoming team." "I'm honored, Captain. Have you chosen the remainder of the team?" "I took Hackett's suggestion and took all the players from our laser tag game. That way at least everybody has seen me do some of my thing." "I will let them know."

Cassidy gave him a long look. "Our ship is sponsored by the Alliance, primarily staffed by the Navy and Marines, but in the end we are a Citadel Council Spectre vessel. There are other species serving on board. Turian, asari, prothean, geth, quarian, drell, maybe others. If any of them will have issues with that, let me know and we'll take someone who doesn't have issues." "Understood, Captain."

Chesa said, "Thane is requesting entry." Jackson made to stand up, but Cassidy waved him down. "Let him in." Thane came in, "Oh, I can come another time." Cassidy said, "No need. Please sit. Thane, this is Lt Andew Jackson, who will lead our new contingent of marines. Lieutenant, this is Thane Krios, one of my specialists. He was part of the crew that took down the Collectors." Jackson shook Thane's hand.

A call from the bedroom, "Mommy! I need you." Cassidy said, "You two can talk while I take care of Wendy."

When Cassidy and Wendy came out, Thane said, "I accepted the delivery of your flower on your behalf." Wendy climbed up in a chair. Wendy asked "Who sent this flower?" Cassidy unwrapped the pear blossoms, got them into the vase and read the note "I hope you are doing well. The Galaxy Map doesn't look right without you. Samantha" Cassidy said, "Wendy, this is Lt Jackson." Jackson said, "You can call me Andy, Miss Wendy." Cassidy explained, "Samantha is our communications specialist."

Jackson said, "Is there anything else, Captain?" Cassidy said, "Dismissed, Lieutenant."

At dinner, Cassidy made mental notes about the kitchen staff that she was able to see. She found one of the round tables and invited Tarin, Juran, Anita and Lee to join them. Handyside came and joined them also. Cassidy sat next to Tarin and asked her to mull over which of her pilots she would recommend to be reassigned. Tarin thought for awhile. Then she said, "Out of all the pilots we have left from the war, our top three have been your shuttle pilots for the past few days, Reynolds, Jones and Phelps. They are all excellent fliers, the main difference being personalities. Reynolds, as you know, is an earnest sweet kid. Jones keeps herself to herself. Phelps is the class clown." Cassidy said, "I'll think about it."

Cassidy looked around the room but didn't see Melanie, in fact she didn't see any of the Grissom students. Handyside saw her looking and said, "The students are eating in tonight."

Cassidy got a message from Kahlee, "Cassidy, Wedding tomorrow evening. Citadel trip right before lunch?" Cassidy replied, "After lunch? I have appt." Kahlee sent back "OK".

As they were finishing dinner, McAnally came over, "Captain, they are streaming a performance of The Magic Flute, starting in about a half hour. May I take Wendy to watch with the other kids?" Cassidy asked, "Wendy, do you want to go watch a show with Zoe?" Wendy said, "Zoe is fun, Mommy." Cassidy said, "OK, Zoe. Text me when you're done." Zoe helped Wendy down and walked out with her.

Lee said, "They're doing karaoke night in the music lounge. You guys up for that?" Everybody agreed. Cassidy and Thane followed the rest out and down a couple decks to a room that was dimly lit with lots of tables, a dance floor and a stage. Lee led them to a couple small tables over to the side. He took drink orders, then went and got them and passed them out.

The MC for the evening was Dizzy Phelps. He introduced himself and then the first singer and the song, which was a fun one. After the first few songs, he announced a dance number. Lee got up and asked Cassidy to dance. He expertly spun her around the floor and she enjoyed it. Lee led her back to the table. Tarin and Anita got up to do a popular rock-n-roll number.

When the next dance number came around, Lt Jackson asked Cassidy. Lee was partnering Anita, Tarin with Juran. Cassidy was almost dizzy by the time the number was over.

Cassidy ended up dancing with Juran next and the final dance was with Thane.

Cassidy got the signal from Zoe that they were done. Cassidy messaged back for Zoe to bring Wendy to their rooms. She said her goodnights and walked out with Thane.

Having tucked Wendy into bed for the night, Cassidy pulled up her note to Garrus and wrote about her day. She thought about the dancing and realized she hadn't had any reaction to any of the men touching her. She felt relief at that. She went to bed.

–

Garrus told Liara the news about the adoption and the renovation at their breakfast meeting. He copied the picture to her. "Garrus, she looks like a sweet child. Congratulations."

After breakfast, Garrus, Greg, Clowder and Ken worked on clearing out the space next to the elevator. That took the whole morning. Over lunch, Clowder worked on fabricating interior panels for the room. Through the afternoon they attached the panels as Clowder finished them. They took a break that evening to play poker.

Gabby and Samantha used the omni-gel converter to make the pieces for a post and panel headboard and footboard for Wendy's bed. Liara came down and helped with making the drawer box support for the mattress. Solana made frames for a chair and ottoman, the cushions and the upholstery fabric. She assembled the frames, seated the cushions and covered it all and tacked it down, resulting in a child size overstuffed chair and ottoman.

Cortez and Vega found some crates that they cleaned up and converted to a chest of drawers and bedside table.


	72. Chapter 72

Chapter 72

Klein was there for breakfast. He looked a bit haggard to Cassidy's eye. He asked about their day the day before. Cassidy covered the highlights – the shuttle rescue, lunch with Hackett, Wendy's show, the music night. Klein said, "Any reactions during, or due to, the dancing?" Cassidy said, "Nothing, which was a relief to me when I realized it last night."

Wendy went to daycare. Klein and Cassidy tested the class and they all passed. Klein announced that they would not have classes the next two days.

Cassidy decided to do her lap swimming before lunch. She swam at a moderate pace for an hour. After she cleaned up, she went to the gardens and worked on catching up on messages from all those that had replied to her pictures. Wrex said if she came to Tuchanka, he had a young one that 'needs socialization'. Cassidy wondered why that might be, but shrugged. She had made the offer after all.

Cassidy collected Wendy and they went to lunch with Handyside. Handyside said, "You seemed comfortable letting the men lead you around on the dance floor." Cassidy said, "That's how I dance, in their reflected glory. I had a good time." Handyside asked Wendy, "Did you enjoy the show with Zoe?" Wendy said, "The music told the story. We had fun."

After lunch, Kahlee, Melanie, and Lt Jackson met them at the table and they went to the flight deck. Lt Jones was their pilot. She took them to the Citadel and they transferred to the Alliance car. They went to the seamstress. She sized Melanie and found a dress to alter for her. Kahlee took them to a salon where they all four had their hair and nails done. They went back to the seamstress and picked up the dresses and accoutrements. They went next door and picked up the flowers.

Back on the Philippines, Cassidy carried the dresses. Melanie helped with the bags. At the room, Wendy went down for her nap.

Cassidy said, "I need to work on attaching Jenny's flower crown to her head." Melanie said, "I was glad to get out of the school. Everybody is so glum. I mean I feel bad for Victoria but she's alive and getting help. We can celebrate that much. And a wedding is a happy thing. I like being happy. Administrator Sanders wants me to walk with Jared and Wendy to help if need be." Melanie pulled up her omni-tool and started surfing the extranet.

Cassidy pulled out her sewing kit and began to sew the hook part of the hook and loop fastener to Jenny's head. She squeezed a bit to get a grip for the needle. She felt something hard in the middle of the bear's head. She looked along the seams and found a place where she could slide her fingers around a double layer of fabric. She reached in and got hold of the hard thing and pulled it out. It was a cheap omni-tool, with its battery removed.

Cassidy looked over at Melanie and decided to put the omni-tool aside for another time when she could look at it alone. She worked on getting the sewing done. When she was done the crown could be attached and detached from Jenny's head. She put Jenny back with the sleeping Wendy and put the omni-tool into her duffel bag.

Chesa said, "Lt Commander Ashley Williams requests entry." Cassidy said, "Let her in." Ashley came in carrying a dress and a bag. Melanie jumped up and hugged Ashley. Ashley said, "Hi Melanie. I figured this must be girl central, so I'm hoping I can change here with you all." Cassidy said, "You are most welcome to join us, Ash." Cassidy took Ashley's dress and bag and took them into the bedroom.

Cassidy came out and Ashley asked for the story about saving the Cambridge students. When Cassidy finished, she asked Ashley for her end of the story.

Ashley said, "Well, when the kidnapping first happened there was a lot of confusion. The car's VI had sent the accident report, so we knew who was missing. The salarian student is connected to the Councilor somehow, so the kidnapping came to the attention of the salarian embassy, and then there being turians and an asari in the group, it went to the whole Council. They sent me down with Phalanx. Phalanx and I were in the shuttle on our way down when our perp called you. We did a sweep and Phalanx located 'the local maximum' of the comm signal, and figured where we should land."

Ashley continued, "Of course, when we got there he was gone. But Phalanx said that if the perp was monitoring the shuttle then there must be a signal tracking with him. He got his friends to find it and track it from above. So, we were able to follow him, in general, until the shuttle above exploded. Then the signal stopped, so we had to hunt. Eventually we ended up in the London underground. That's where Jack joined me. I got to use some new interesting features Pack put in my helmet display, I imagine you've got the same stuff in your visor. Anyway, we had to take down a few of his followers, but we got to him and captured him and a big stash of weapons. Alliance soldiers came in after us to clean up."

Chesa said, "Instructor Jack requests entry." Cassidy said "Let her in." Jack came in with a garment bag. Cassidy said, "Good to see you, Jack. Jack, this is my daughter, Melanie." Jack said, "Hey kid, I hear I'll be getting you in a year or two." Melanie said, "Hello, Instructor. We met you during opening day, on the comm."

Wendy came out of the bedroom, rubbing her eyes. Cassidy said, "Ash, Jack, this is my other daughter, Wendy." Cassidy said, "Wendy, this is Ashley. She is a Spectre. This is Jack, she teaches at Grissom Academy. Melanie, why don't you and Ashley get dressed, then Jack and I can, and then I'll get Wendy dressed last."

Ashley and Melanie went into the bedroom. Jack took a seat at the table, "I thought you and Garrus were going to grow your own." "We still are." "Big family then?" "Well, at least 4." Jack sat back. "I'm coming back in to the classroom. Sent my war group on to their first individual postings. So I'll be on the ship here until they're ready for some field trips."

The flower delivery arrived. Wendy squealed and got up on the chair, "Who sent it, Mommy? What kind is it?" Cassidy pulled the note and read it, "I hope you are recovering quickly, Captain. I told Liara to choose the flower for me. She said she chose 'freesia'. Javik." Cassidy unwrapped the purple and pink freesia, had Wendy smell the pleasant scent, then put it in the vase.

Eventually they were all dressed. Jack was in a short black leather skirt with a new black leather jacket over a satin cream tube top, and black leather knee high boots.

They went to the music lounge which had been decorated in streamers and flowers. Ashley and Jack took seats with the gathering audience. When the music started Admiral Hackett walked down the aisle to the stage. Then Lee and then Anderson. Jared, Wendy and Melanie went, with Wendy occasionally dumping a handful of petals at Melanie's direction. Then Cassidy went. Finally, Kahlee came down in a cream color narrow gown with matching jacket.

Hackett took them through their vows. Jared brought them the rings on the pillows. Hackett pronounced them the galaxy's newest married couple. David kissed Kahlee.

Formal pictures were taken. The photographer got a nice one of Cassidy holding Wendy with Melanie standing so Wendy was between them. The photographer arranged with Cassidy to sell a low-res version of that one to the press and Cassidy got royalties and full license to the original high-res file in exchange.

There was dinner, cake and dancing. Cassidy left with Wendy and Melanie when Wendy's bedtime came. They shed their fancy clothing and prepped it all for return to the seamstress. Melanie kissed Cassidy and Wendy goodnight and went off to her own room. Cassidy tucked Wendy into bed with Jenny. She grabbed the omni-tool and a pair of earphones out of her duffel bag and took them into the sitting room.

She said, "Chesa, please connect me to the store room." "Petty Officer Hendricks." "Captain Shepard Victus. I need a battery for an omni-tool, serial # GE-4221-2150-A324." "Looking that up, Captain. Yes, we stock that type of battery. Should I send it to your quarters?" "Yes please, and charge it to my personal account." "You will receive it shortly, Captain." "Thank you, Hendricks."

She checked her messages while she waited. There was one from Hannah about the news article on the wedding, saying how lovely she and the girls looked. Similar messages came from Miranda and Tali. There was also one from Matriarch Kaleera about getting Wendy in to be measured soon.

The battery arrived. Cassidy inserted the battery, and started it up. It came up with an obvious file marked open_me_urgent. Cassidy put in the earphones and synched the sound on the omni-tool. She played the file.

A young woman with brown hair pulled back in a low ponytail and a worried expression came on the screen. "To whoever is watching now, I hope you are taking good care of my Wendy. If you are, thank you. I am Jessie Haverline, Wendy's mother. I'm sorry, I know I'm not a very good mother, being a cheap working girl, being a drug addict. I don't know who her father is, probably one of the mercenaries, probably dead by now. I'm leaving the couple of nice things I have in a box, buried at the coordinates I'm pulling down now. They are calling for the children to meet the shuttles, I don't have much time. Wendy, honey, I love you. I hope you find a new mommy, who is taking better care of you, giving you a good life. You deserve so much more than me. I hope you live to see Commander Shepard defeat the Reapers. I love you."

Cassidy shut Jessie's omni-tool off and mulled over the information. She contacted the med bay and scheduled a complete physical for Wendy for the morning.

She opened her own omni-tool and looked up Tip Tree. It was in a system that did not have a reactivated relay. She couldn't get there anytime soon, but it would hopefully mean that Jessie's box would remain undisturbed until the Normandy got there.


	73. Chapter 73

Chapter 73

Cassidy decided to work a little, while Wendy napped. She pulled up the roster of the KP crew. She noticed one of the names that she thought was in Klein's class and cross referenced it to be sure. She pulled the woman to mind, one of the not so graceful ones, but made a sincere effort to do as well as she could. Cassidy decided and tagged her for reassignment.

She thought about the pilots again and wondered if Steve Cortez would have any preference. She texted Thane and asked him if he would come stay in the suite with Wendy. He immediately replied, "Certainly. I will be there momentarily."

He arrived and said, "I was just watching a movie, I can do that here as well as there." Cassidy said, "I shouldn't be too long. Ashley and Jack may come by, the reception is probably still going on."

Cassidy went up to the comm room. Hackett was using it, receiving a report from a ship over Tuchanka. Cassidy let the comm officer know she would wait. She stepped into the passageway and leaned against the bulkhead. She pulled up a crossword game and worked some more on it.

Hackett came out. "Captain, are you waiting for me?" "No, sir. I want to contact the Normandy." "The room is yours then, Captain." "Thank you, sir."

Cassidy said to the comm officer, "I want to contact the Normandy." "Contact ready when you are Captain."

EDI's voice came, "Hello Captain. I have informed Advisor Vakarian of your contact. He is coming. How are you doing?" "Reasonably well, EDI. I will want to talk to Steve Cortez also." "Letting Lieutenant Cortez know."

Garrus' image came on. "Cassidy. Is everything alright?" "Not to worry, Garrus, everything's fine. We're going to have some crew changes when you get back. One of them is that we're getting a second shuttle and I want to discuss the possible pilot choices with Steve. Come to think of it, I'll want to talk to James after Steve." "Steve has just arrived. I'll come back when you're done talking with the others."

Steve's image replaced Garrus'. Steve said, "Cassidy, you are looking well. What's up?" "When the Normandy returns, we are going to turn in the current shuttle and get two new ones, upgraded with geth improvements. That second shuttle will come with a new pilot. I have narrowed my field down to 3, all excellent fliers Captain Tarin Woo assures me. They are Nathaniel Reynolds, Belinda Jones and Dizzy Phelps. Know anything about any of them?" "No, sorry, Cassidy. I haven't served with any of them. What do you know about them?" "Reynolds is an earnest good guy. Belinda is reserved and focused. Phelps is the life of the party." "I can work with whoever you choose. I'll give our current shuttle a thorough going over, make it ready for whoever will inherit it. James is here, I take it you want to talk to him next?" "Yes, thank you, Steve."

James' image came on. "Looking good, Lola. What ya got for me?" "James. When the Normandy returns, you are going to be reassigned for some specialized N7 training. All the marines under you will be reassigned. I have a new team picked, headed by Lt Andrew Jackson." "Rushmore can get full of himself, but he's a good commander. I think you and he will get along fine." "Rushmore?" "Big head." Cassidy laughed. James said, "I'll let the marines know, Lola. They'll be glad for a change, I think. I'll hand you back over to your other half."

Garrus came back on, "Any more business?" "If you didn't catch it, James is going to be reassigned. I think Parveen is going to want to follow him off the Normandy. I have a KP crewmember tapped to take over. Even if Parveen stays, I'll still bring on the new person." "I'll get Samantha to sound her out, after James lets her know about his reassignment." "Sounds good."

Garrus said, "Cassidy, I can see that you have something eating at you. What's going on?" "I found some stuff out about Wendy's birth mother. I'm not sure how much I should tell her at this point. I'm thinking maybe I'll wait until she asks about it." "That seems reasonable. I don't think we should actively hide anything from her, but I'm guessing something about this is not appropriate for young ears." "You read me well, Garrus." "Hopefully you won't need to deal with it until after we get back, then I can help carry the load."

Garrus continued, "We've got her a room ready, finished today, in the space next to elevator across from our room. We're going to move the door 90 degrees to give her an unobstructed path to the bathroom." Cassidy said, "I'm looking forward to seeing it. It sounds like you all have been working hard." "Its been a novel thing to do, so people were eager to help."

Cassidy said, "Anderson and Sanders were married this evening. It was a nice simple ceremony, much like ours was." Garrus said, "Good for them. I hope there are some good photos of you and the girls." Cassidy smiled and said, "There's a nice one that went out on the news."

Cassidy said, "I'll let you go. Miss you. Love you." Garrus replied, "Miss you more. Love you." "Shepard Victus out." Cassidy cut the connection.

Cassidy went back to her rooms. Thane, Ashley and Jack were in the sitting room. They quietly greeted Cassidy. Thane and Jack got up, said their goodnights and left. Ashley said, "I know Chesa would get me a room for the night, but if its okay with you, I'd just rather crash here on your couch." Cassidy answered, "Sure, no problem. Anything on your mind?"

Ashey sighed and said, "I've been seeing one of the new C-Sec guys, just a few lunches so far. His name's Franklin Marshall. He was a police detective on Terra Nova. I didn't feel ready to bring him to a wedding, so I left him on the Citadel tonight. He's asked me to go to a show tomorrow night, something about Japanese drumming and acrobatics. I said okay, as long as something doesn't come up with the Council. He understands about that."

Cassidy said, "But what, something bothering you about him?" Ashley replied, "I'm not sure. I get the feeling that he is avoiding or running away from something on Terra Nova. He doesn't want to talk about it – yet, he says." Cassidy said, "That could be a lot of things, but hopefully he'll be comfortable enough with you to share soon."

Ashley yawned. Cassidy said, "Yea, let's call it a night."

– _end day 12_

Cassidy woke to the sound of the shower. She looked over at Wendy who rolled over and said, "Who's in the bathroom, Mommy?" "Good morning, pumpkin. Ashley is in there. Hey, you know what?" "What?" "I talked to your daddy last night. He said the crew made a bedroom just for you on the ship." "Is my room by yours?" "Yes, we will be able to hear you and you will be able to come to us if you need to."

Ashley called, "Bathroom's open." Cassidy and Wendy got cleaned up and dressed. Cassidy, Wendy, and Ashley went to breakast. Melanie and Huiqing joined them.

After breakfast, Ashley went back to the Citadel and Melanie and Huiqing went to swim. Cassidy took Wendy to the med bay. Lt Norquist sent a nurse to do the vision and hearing tests on Wendy. Norquist held Cassidy back, "Captain, why did you order a complete physical?" "Lieutenant, I came on new information last night. I believe that Wendy may not have much if any contact with medical services from conception onward." "Ah. Well, we'll see what needs doing then." Norquist led Cassidy into the exam room.

Norquist was doing an eye-hand coordination exercise with Wendy, when Chesa said "Captain, Admiral Shepard wishes you to know that her ship is about to dock." "Acknowledged."

A nurse was playing a video game with Wendy. Norquist and the ship's CMO, Dr Vincent Pollack asked Cassidy to another room to discuss the results. Chesa said, "Captain, Admiral Shepard is asking for your location." Cassidy looked at Pollack and said, "Ask her to join me here." They waited for Hannah to arrive.

Hannah came in and hugged Cassidy, "Hello, Cassidy, What's going on, why are you here?" "Wendy just had a complete physical. Dr Pollack and Lt Norquist are going to give us the results. Pollack and Norquist saluted Hannah and Hannah returned the salute, "At ease. Let's hear about these results."

Pollack said, "You are correct, Captain, that Wendy did not receive any prenatal treatments and she had several vitamin deficiencies that were corrected in recent months. She is nearsighted, and has several genetic vulnerabilities to disease. We can do the genetic correction for disease prevention and a separate treatment to correct her vision. There are, as you may know, elective genetic enhancements are available – to improve learning and memory, strength, and reaction speed as she grows."

Cassidy asked, "What does the eye treatment involve?" Pollack answered, "We sedate her and then make strategic cuts in the lens to relax it to the degree she needs. We'll back it up with a genetic correction."

Hannah asked, "Can all these genetic alterations be done together or or do they need to be done individually?" Pollack said, "There will be separate treatments, so that there is only need to uncoil the genome at one spot at a time. Attempts to pack changes together have been erratic in results. Each alteration will need a waiting period afterward of a week. Since Norquist is going on the Normandy with you, he can bring the individualized viral samples with him and Dr Chakwas can oversee the weekly regimen until all is done."

Cassidy said, "So, when can the eye treatment be done?" Pollack said, "We need to contact a specialist for this, so it may be several days, depending. It will take some time for the lab to prepare the individual treatments anyway."

Cassidy said, "Alright, do all of the treatments." Pollack said, "I'll contact you when I get hold of the specialist. We'll leave you the room to discuss this in private." Pollack and Norquist left.

Hannah looked at Cassidy, "How did you know to check for this?" Cassidy said, "Her mother left a message on an omni-tool and hid the omni-tool in Wendy's teddy bear. I found it yesterday. Her mother was a prostitute and not the expensive kind, either. She said Wendy's father was probably a mercenary, she didn't know."

Hannah said, "Well, we'll get her straightened out. Let's go, I want to meet my new granddaughter." Cassidy took Hannah to the other room and they watched Wendy and the nurse until they finished the current game. Wendy said, "Mommy, I won!" Cassidy said, "Wendy, this is Grandma Hannah, do you remember?" Wendy said, "Hi Grandma." Hannah held out her arms and Wendy came in. Hannah lifted her up and kissed her cheek. "I am very happy to see you in person, sweetheart."

Cassidy said, "I have a bunch of dresses to return to the Citadel. Shall we see if Melanie wants to go with us and have lunch over there?" Hannah said, "Sounds good." Cassidy said, "She said she was going to swim. Let's head down there and see if they're still in the pool."

When they got to the pool, an innertube water polo game was going on. Students and crew were playing. The ball came flying over and Cassidy caught it. She walked up to the pool. Melanie got off her tube and swam over. "Hi Mom, what's up?" "We're going to the Citadel, wanted to give you the chance to come along." "Thanks, but I wanna stay and play. Hi Grandma!" Hannah waved. Cassidy said, "OK." and handed the ball to Melanie.


	74. Chapter 74

Chapter 74

Cassidy called the flight deck to reserve a shuttle. Tarin asked "You made a choice yet, Cassidy?" Cassidy looked at Wendy. Cassidy pulled up her dice roller on her omni-tool and selected a six-sider. She said, "Wendy, touch the die on the screen, 1,4 is Reynolds, 2,5 is Jones, 3,6 is Phelps." Wendy touched it and it came up 3. Wendy said, "3!" Cassidy said, "Phelps it is." Tarin said, "Damn, we're going to have to find a new DJ / MC. Alright then, he's yours. I'll let him know."

Cassidy, Wendy and Hannah collected the dresses and accoutrements for return and went to the shuttle. Jackson was waiting there for them. Dizzy came out of the ready room and called, "Bay 1, mon Capitan!" They went to Bay 1 to see a brand new shuttle there. It looked a little less boxy to Cassidy. Dizzy came up behind and saluted Hannah, "Admiral Shepard, ma'am." Hannah returned the salute and said, "Carry on, Lieutenant." Dizzy said, "Woo just told me, Captain. I get to paint my name on this baby. There's another in Bay 2 for Cortez. Thanks, Captain!" Cassidy said, "Wendy rolled a die that turned up you, Phelps." Dizzy turned to Wendy and bowed to her, "Miss Wendy, you are my lucky muse."

They got on the shuttle and went to the Citadel. They returned the dresses and stuff to the seamstress. Wendy wanted to look in the flower shop. She said, pointing, "Mommy, that's a rose. That's a tulip. . . ." She correctly identified every flower that was also in Cassidy's flower vase." She pointed to one, a deep indigo purple set of orchids, growing in a pot. She said, "What's that, Mommy?" Cassidy said, "Orchids." Cassidy pointed out the other kinds of orchids in the shop. Wendy looked back at the indigo orchids and said, "Can I have those?" Hannah said, "I'll get them for you, sweetheart."

The went to the chinese restaurant and Jia welcomed them in. Cassidy said, "Admirah Hannah Shepard, Wendy, Lt Jackson this is Cheung Jia, mother to Melanie's roommate, Huiqing. Jia, this is my mother, Admiral Hannah Shepard, and my younger daughter, Wendy and Lt Andrew Jackson." Jia said, "Family lunch?" Cassidy said, "That's fine."

They were in the first course when Ashley and a C-Sec officer came in. Cassidy said, "Ash! Would you two like to join us?" They came up and took seats. Ashley said, "Admiral Hannah Shepard, Wendy, Spectre Captain Cassidy Shepard Victus, Lt Jackson, this is Officer Franklin Marshall." Franklin reached out to shake everyone's hands. Jia said, "Hello Spectre, Officer. I will bring more."

Wendy said, "Ashley, Grandma got me orchids!" Cassidy picked up the bag and pulled it down to show the orchids. Ashley said, "Those are very pretty, Wendy. I like the dark purple color."

Ashley asked, "How was Palaven, Admiral?" Hannah said, "Very nice, thank you. Adrien and I got engaged." Ashley said, "Congratulations! Are you adding onto the Victus Vakarian family ceremony or doing something separate?" Cassidy said, "We're adding their wedding into the family ceremony." Frankin looked confused. Ashley said, "Cassidy's adopted father is turian Primarch Adrien Victus. Her husband and Wendy's new dad is turian Advisor Garrus Vakarian." Cassidy added, "Garrus and I were married in a civil union. The turian family ceremony is the formal family acceptance."

Franklin thought for a moment and said, "Oh, that's why you took Victus, but not Vakarian yet." Cassidy nodded. Wendy said, "I am Victus Vakarian." Hannah said, "That's right, sweetheart."

They talked about the extent of the repairs to the wards and what businesses were reestablished or new. Ashley said, "They haven't rebuilt Tiberius Tower yet, Cassidy. I've got an apartment in a new building not far from there." Franklin said, "And my apartment is about 2 blocks from Ashley's, in a rebuilt building."

After lunch, they went back to the shuttle. Dizzy admired Wendy's orchids. He took them back to the Philippines.

That afternoon, Hannah took Wendy. Cassidy joined in a volleyball game, swam laps, and started a sketch of martial arts areas. She stopped to put away her drawing materials before dinner. The daily flower delivery came. It was blue and yellow pansies. The note read, "I hope your return to health is swift. Diana."

Cassidy had dinner up with Admiral Hackett, with Hannah, Wendy, Lee, Anita, Tarin, Brian, Pollack, and Captain Sarah Wilton, the officer in charge of food service. They streamed in the Japanese drumming performance. Wilton said to Cassidy, during the drumming, "I saw that you tagged Petty Officer Irene Schwartz for reassignment to the Normandy. I haven't told her yet, because, well, you should know that she has been seeing Staff Sergeant Ihor Usyk. Usyk is part of the marines team you tagged. I don't know, given your husband is your XO, how you treat fraternization on your ship, since its not strictly Alliance. Do you want to go ahead with Schwartz?" "Yes, I'll still take Schwartz. Thank you for the heads up, Wilson."

Cassidy, Wendy and Hannah left early to put Wendy to bed. Cassidy and Hannah talked for awhile. Cassidy let Hannah look at Jessie's omni-tool. Hannah said her goodnights and went off to her room.

Cassidy wrote the day's entry in her note to Garrus. Then she called it a night.

–

Garrus stood behind Joker for their arrival at the Arcturus relay. EDI tapped the relay and displayed the positions of the errant ring pieces. Joker set the destination for their first and they began the retrieval process.

James was with Parveen in her room after dinner. He said, "Querida, I'm going to be reassigned for some N7 training, once we return to Earth. I don't want to pressure you, but well, whether you want to stay on the Normandy or not, I want to . . . well," He went down on one knee and pulled a diamond ring out of his pocket. Parveen teared up, "Priya, I accept." He slid the ring on her finger. She pulled him up and kissed him long and deep.

She pulled his shirt out of his waistband and ran her hands over the muscles of his back. As she had never let him past first base before, he looked her in the eyes, "You are sure?" She kissed him and said, "Yes, I am sure." "You are protected?" "Yes, I am protected." He pulled his shirt off. She kissed his collarbones, kissed down his sternum, kissed each muscle down his abs. She undid his belt and unzipped his pants. She reached in and pulled out his cock. She took him into her mouth. James cupped her head and breathed, "Dios mio".

She stood up and took her top off then her bra. He said, "Belleza" and touched her breasts, turning the nipples with his thumbs. He took the rest of his clothing off then guided her to lay on her bed. He sat by her and leaned over to kiss and suck her breasts, one then other and over again. He reached down to place his hand over her pelvis and down between her legs and rub slowly.

He pulled the remainder of her clothing off her. He got between her legs and went down, licked one thigh from down to up, then the other, coming in to lick her clit. She moaned.

He continued licking her clit and put two fingers inside. She arched, "James, I want you now." "Sí, querida." He lifted his head and kissed her breasts again. He positioned himself and pushed, entering her slowly, bit by bit as he stroked gently. He got in as deep as he could and stroked harder, time and again, over and over. He came. She pulled him down and kissed his collarbone. She pushed him to the side and kept her arms around his neck. They let their breathing slow down.

Parveen said, "We will have the wedding a day after our return to Earth. The Captain will officiate." He said, "So soon? Don't you need more time to prepare?" "We have no family but each other. We can rent wedding clothes and buy flowers on the Citadel. Samantha will stand with me. Steve Cortez will stand for you?" "I will ask." "We will get an apartment on Earth and I will go back to university to continue my degree. We will start our family as soon as possible." He said, "Yes, ma'am" and he kissed her.

– _end day 13_

Cassidy and Wendy got ready in the morning. Hannah came by and walked with them to breakfast. Klein was there, a booster seat in Wendy's regular chair. Cassidy introduced Klein and Hannah to each other. They went, made their choices on the line and returned to sit with Klein. Hannah asked, "What has been your morning routine with Wendy, Cassidy?" Wendy said, "I go see Zoe." Cassidy said, "Yes, after breakfast, I take her to daycare, then I assist Col. Klein with his class. We are starting yellow belt today. Then I do duty, chores, errands or whatever needs doing. I usually collect Wendy just before lunch." Hannah asked, "Colonel, is there room in your class for one more?" Klein replied, "Admiral, you may join us if you wish. What belt are you?" Hannah answered "I am first black belt, the class would be for exercise and refresher for me." Klein said, "I'll ask you to assist us from time to time." "Yes, sir."

After dropping Wendy at daycare, Cassidy asked, "You have a uniform?" "Yes, I just didn't get it out on the Normandy because you weren't using uniforms."

After class, they walked down to their rooms. Hannah's was across from Cassidy's and Thane's. Hannah said, "I'm going to tour the Selk'nam. Do you want to come with?" Cassidy said, "Yeah, sure. I'll be right out."

Dizzy took them over to the Selk'nam. Faculty awaited them at the docking bay. Faculty said, "Welcome aboard, Admiral Shepard." Cassidy asked, "Faculty will you continue with the Selk'nam as a crew member once she sails?" Faculty said, "You have correctly surmised my future role, Captain." Hannah said, "Hello Faculty, and hello, Kiepja." Kiepja said, "Hello, Admiral, Captain. Faculty can lead you to your destinations or I can give you floor lights as guides." Hannah said, "We will follow Faculty." They spent the remainder of the morning on their tour.

Dizzy brought them back and they went and collected Wendy. Wendy said, "Zoe helped me read, Mommy. I can read 'my' 'mom', 'dad', 'dog', 'cat', 'bed', 'room', 'I', 'a' 'am', 'is', 'was', 'will', 'in', 'at', 'her', 'his', 'and', and 'not'." Hannah said, "That's impressive, sweetheart."

They went to lunch and sat with Thane, Anita, Tarin and Juran. Tarin said there would be bridge that evening. Cassidy said she was in. Thane and Anita agreed also.

After lunch, Cassidy said, "I have been giving Wendy swim lessons after lunch. Do you want to join us in the pool?" Hannah said, "That sounds like fun. Let's go collect our swimwear."

Swimming was done and Wendy was down for her nap. Hannah sat at Cassidy's table, checking her messages. She said, "Adrien says hello and sends his love." Cassidy sat across from Hannah, also checking messages. "Ashley says she enjoyed the drumming with Franklin." Hannah said, "You should order an omni-tool for Wendy, one meant for little kids, with the 'K-2' educational package." "Hmm, let me see what's available . . . Apex is offering a couple versions for kids. They have parental control from the parent omni-tool, and by biometric lock. Yes, here I'll order this one with the K-2 included. There, it should be here tomorrow."

Cassidy said, "I think I'll go to stores and see if they have crayons and such. I'll be back." Cassidy left and went to stores. She got a tear off pad of newsprint, a box of crayons, a dry erase board, markers and an eraser. She returned to the room and put them on the table, "Stuff to use to teach her to write. Start with her name, I guess."

Cassidy pulled out her sketch pad and worked on the drawing until Wendy woke. Wendy came out and climbed up. She picked up the box of crayons and looked at the other stuff, "What's this?" Hannah said, "This stuff is to help you learn to write when you're ready." "What would I write?" "How about your name?" and Hannah and Wendy were off.

Wendy was copying "My dad is Garrus" when the flower delivery came. Wendy put her crayon down and said, "I want to read the note, Mommy." Cassidy handed the note to Wendy and picked up the showy red & white cactus dahlia. Hannah looked on with Wendy at the note.

Wendy: I

Hannah: wish you

Wendy: a

Hannah: speedy recovery. By the time

Wendy: you

Hanna: read this, James

Wendy: will

Hannah: have proposed.

Wendy: I

Hannah: hope

Wendy: you will

Hannah: officiate our wedding

Wendy: a

Hannah: day after

Wendy: the

Hannah: Normandy returns. Parveen.

Hannah said, "Very good. You are picking up new words quickly." Wendy asked, "Who is Parveen?" Cassidy said, "Parveen helps out in the galley, she serves food, she cleans, sorts and whatever else needs doing. It looks like Parveen is going to follow James off the Normandy."

Hannah said, "Wendy, your tulips are fully open now. They are very pretty."

Wendy tore off the page she had been working on, picked up a green crayon and started drawing. Cassidy returned to her drawing. Wendy's drawing was of her tulips. She had Hannah help with the shape of the vase.

Chesa announced "Thane Krios requests entry." Thane stepped inside and said, "May I accompany you to dinner?" Cassidy looked at the time and said, "My goodness, its that late already. Yes, let's go to dinner."

They joined Lee, Anita,Tarin and Brian.

After dinner, Hannah said she would take Wendy. Cassidy and Thane went with Anita and Tarin to the game room and set up for an evening of bridge. About halfway into the second game, Lee came in, "Cassidy, the Normandy sent a comm request on the QEC." Cassidy said, "Alright. Tarin is going solo so I'm not even playing my hand, as you can see, Lee." Cassidy got up and Lee took the chair.

Cassidy went up to the comm room. The comm officer opened the connection. Garrus' image came up. "Cassidy, we have arrived and have been retrieving fragments. EDI figures we have another three days of that. We'll be out by Benning tomorrow, so we'll do a scan while we're there. Parveen would like to speak with you."

Garrus' image changed to Parveen's, "Captain, James and I are engaged. I am giving notice. I plan to go back to continue my degree on Earth." Cassidy said, "Thank you for letting me know. Yes, I'll officiate the wedding. They have a very pretty area in the gardens here, or there's a music hall with a stage, tables and a dance floor." "I'll think about that, Captain. Thank you."

Garrus came back. "That's all the business we have for now. How are things?" "I took Wendy for a complete physical. She needs eye treatment and genetic therapy. My mom is here. Wendy is learning to read and starting to practice writing. She's all excited about it. Tali's going to send us a young propulsion engineer for Gabby to teach. Did you finish the work on our quarters?" "The door is off. Clowder, Greg and Ken are working on the place where its going to go. Gabby was happy to hear about the daycare."

Cassidy said, "Call after you're done with Benning." "I will. I love you." "I love you. Shepard Victus out." Cassidy cut the connection.

Cassidy went back to the game room and Lee stood up and pulled up another chair to observe. Lee said, "We just dealt the first hand of the third game. How is the Normandy?" "Hunting ring fragments. They're not quite finished renovating our quarters, but should be done soon. They plan to scan Benning tomorrow."

When the third game was done, Cassidy got a message from Hannah, "I am putting Wendy to bed. Feel free to stay in the game." Thane excused himself for the night. Lee took Thane's place. They played a fourth game then called it a night.


	75. Chapter 75

Chapter 75

It was after lunch when the Normandy took orbit above Benning and EDI started to scan for signals. "There are several dozen small communities dotted about the planet. All have electrical service and appear to be successfully farming. There is one sending a distress signal."

Garrus, James, and Javik and 3 marines went down with in the shuttle to check out the distress signal on Benning. They landed in the middle of a small town with farms all around. People came out to stare at the shuttle. Garrus and the others got out. Garrus went up to a man who was waiting at the front of the shuttle.

"Advisor Garrus Vakarian, XO of the Normandy." "Mayor Orson Presley." Garrus and Presley shook hands. "What can we do for you, Mayor?" "Is the way back to Earth open, Advisor? We have some pressing needs for replacement parts for our farming equipment. And there's nothing to protect us from space pirates if the relay is open." Garrus replied, "We should have the mass relay open in a few days. The Alliance is planning to rebuild Arcturus station, so there will be a lot of Alliance and geth between the relay and you." "That's good. Ok, then there is a turian who needs assistance, this way."

Garrus brought James and Javik, leaving the marines to guard the shuttle. Presley led them to a small building and inside. Garrus smelled the scent of antiseptics. Presley pointed to a doorway ahead and on the right. Garrus went to the doorway and saw a bed with a young turian boy and an adult turian male coming to a stand next to him. The turian saluted, "Lieutenant Milin Hartrus, this is my son, Maklin." Garrus said, "Advisor Garrus Vakarian of the Normandy. What is your situation, Lieutenant?" "My son broke his leg out exploring. We no longer have dextro meds and he has developed an infection." "Then let's get you two onto the Normandy. Dr Chakwas?" "Yes, Advisor?" "Prepare for a turian patient with a broken leg and subsequent infection." "Aye, aye sir." James said, "One of my marines is bringing the frame."

The marine with the frame arrived and he and James unfolded it and got it ready. Hartrus and Javik lifted Maklin on his sheet over into the frame. The marine and James took the other handles and the four of them carried Maklin to the shuttle. Garrus got in the shuttle and took the co-pilots seat, the rest took seats to either side of Maklin. Steve took them back to the Normandy.

Dr Chakwas met the shuttle and had the guys transfer Maklin to a gurney. She ran a scan and then inserted an IV bag and hung it over the gurney. She said, "Let's go." Two of the marines pushed the gurney and followed Dr Chakwas onto the elevator and up to the med bay.

Garrus said, "Joker, resume our retrieval process." Then he turned to Hartrus and said, "Lieutenant, you look exhausted. What do you need first, sleep, food?" "Food would be good, Advisor." "Come with me, then." They went to the mess hall. Samesh brought out a few plates with sampler sizes of various things. Hartrus started eating, "Spirits, its good to have something besides what we could produce in the greenhouses." "What was your assignment on Benning?" "My mate and I were part of the embassy here. She was inside when Cerberus bombed the building." "I'm sorry for your loss, Lieutenant." "Thank you, sir."

Hartrus finished all three plates, then said, "I'd like to check on my son, sir." Garrus said, "This way, then, Lieutenenant." Garrus took Hartrus to the med bay. Hartrus went in. Garrus went back to stand behind Joker to watch EDI do the capture of the next fragment.

Dinner time came and Garrus went to the mess hall. Garrus asked, "EDI, where is Lieutenant Hartrus?" "Lieutenant Hartrus has retired to his room on Deck 6." Garrus ate with Solana, Liara and Javik. Ken and Gabby came in. Ken said, "We just finished the door, Garrus. Clowder says all our tasks are complete for that project." "Thank you, Ken." "Our pleasure."

When dinner was done, Garrus said, "I'm going to go report to Cassidy, Solana. Do you want to talk to her?" "Sure. Thanks." They went to the comm room and Garrus sent the comm request.

On the Philippines, Cassidy had just finished dinner with Hannah, Wendy, Melanie, Huiqing, Lee, Anita and Thane. Hannah was saying, "Are you going to play bridge this evening?" Cassidy said, "I don't know, I'm expecting ... " Chesa said, "The Normandy has sent a comm request, Captain." Cassidy said, "expecting that. Melanie, want to come talk to dad?" Hannah said, "I'll go to the game room with these folk and we'll see you later."

Cassidy, Wendy and Melanie went to the comm room. The comm officer connected them. Garrus' image showed up. Melanie said, "Hi Dad!" Wendy said, "Hi Daddy!" Garrus said, "Melanie, Wendy! How nice to see you! Solana, come on up." Solana joined Garrus and said, "Hi Melanie, I've missed you." Melanie said, "Hi Aunt Solana!" Garrus said, "Wendy, this is my sister, your Aunt Solana." Wendy said, "Hello Aunt Solana." Solana said, "Nice to meet you, Wendy. I'm looking forward to seeing you all in a few days or so."

Garrus said, "We answered a distress beacon on Benning. We've taken on a turian father and son. The son is in med bay for a broken leg and infection. They had run out of dextro meds and were surviving on dextro greenhouse foods. There are several dozen small communities dotted across the planet, tending the farming equipment. They need replacement parts. The spaceport, spacedocks, larger cities and all the associated technical infrastructure has been destroyed. We have two more days of fragment retrieval."

Cassidy said, "Thanks. I'll pass on the info to Admiral Hackett and Primarch Victus. What skills does this turian father have?" Garrus answered, "I haven't asked him yet. He was exhausted from tending to his son. He ate, checked on the boy and went to bed. I'll ask tomorrow." Wendy said, "Daddy! I can read and write. Zoe and Grandma are helping me. I got a omni-tool today." Garrus flanges showed uncertainty. Cassidy said, "Our daycare person is Petty Officer Zoe McAnally. The omni-tool is a kid version, controlled from mine." Garrus said, "Ah, thanks. That's wonderful, Wendy. I'm proud of you."

Cassidy said, "Now that the renovations to our room our done, maybe your group could put their heads around where to put the daycare space." Garrus said, "That's a good thought, I'll get them on it, get some ideas to consider. I'll let you know." Cassidy said, "Solana, your pot of violets came today. Thank you." Wendy said, "The violets are purple."

Cassidy said, "Ok, let's say goodbye to Dad and Aunt Solana." Melanie said, "Bye, I love you!" Wendy said, "Bye, Aunt Solana. Bye, Daddy." Solana said, "Bye, I'll see you all soon!" Garrus said, "I miss you all. I love you!" Cassidy said, "I love you. Shepard Victus out."

Cassidy sent Melanie back with Wendy to the game room. She saw Hackett on the bridge. "Admiral, Advisor Vakarian just reported on Benning, sir." "Captain, we'll take this into my office." Cassidy followed Hackett into his office. "Report, Captain." "Benning has a few dozen farming communities across the planet. They are running out of equipment replacements. There are no larger cities and all spaceports, spacedocks and industrial technology is destroyed. The Normandy should have the relay working in just over two days." "Very well, I will send orders to have ships ready with equipment for trade for their agricultural produce, and granary ships for transport of said agricultural produce. Also ships for a standing defense until we can get sentry satellites up. Thank you, Captain. Dismissed."

Cassidy went back to the comm room. "Palaven, Primarch Victus please." Cassidy waited, pulled up the crossword on her omni-tool. After a few minutes, Adrien's voice, "Victus. Ah, Cassidy. A pleasure." Cassidy said, "The Normandy has information you need to hear, sir." "Report, Captain." "Benning has survivors in about a dozen farming communities. At least one had surviving turians that had run out of dextro meds and were surviving on greenhouse-grown foods. Those two turians are on the Normandy." "So, there may be more in similar condition, Captain?" "Yes, sir. The Normandy expects to have the relay open in just over 2 days." "I will have a rescue ship with an escort ready for when the relay is reactivated, Captain. Anything more?" Cassidy said, "No, sir." "Palaven out."

Cassidy went to the game room. There were two bridge games going on and Wendy was playing with her omni-tool. Cassidy sat at Melanie's table to observe.

On the Normandy, Solana said, "I must've missed something while down in Engineering. Who did we pick up?" "Lieutenant Milin Hartrus and his son, Maklin." Solana said, "Don't know him." They went down to play ping pong.

– _end day 15_

The next morning, Garrus got up and showered. Liara came for breakfast as usual. She said, "The new set up for Wendy turned out nicely, Garrus." Garrus replied, "I agree. I'm pleased. Now we have to figure where to put the daycare." Liara said, "What about the Observation Lounge?" Garrus said, "I think Cassidy would not like having it right along the hull." Liara thought for a minute and said, "What if we extend Deck 4 out into the cargo bay between Javik and Diana, say as far back as their rooms go? Then the daycare could have an emergency ladder down to the shuttles." Garrus said, "That may work. I'll run it by the engineers and see what they think."

Hartrus went to med bay, first thing. Maklin's color looked much better and his leg was in splints. Hartrus said, "Hello son. I am so pleased to see you looking much better." "I feel much better, sir." Dr Chakwas said, "Let's order breakfast up here for the three of us. Samesh? Two dextro and one levo breakfast in med bay, please." "About 10 minutes, doctor." Dr Chakwas said, "I did the first bone treatment yesterday, as you know. I will do the second one after breakfast. He will need to stay off it one more day. Tomorrow, after the final treatment, the splints will come off, but he should not do any running, wrestling, sparring, jumping, or anything else that would put too much pressure on that bone, for the day after the splints come off." Hartrus said, "I'll see that he does not threaten the healing of his leg, doctor." Breakfast came and Maklin ate all of his and some of Hartrus' breakfast. Dr Chakwas smiled, "Growing and healing takes lots of energy." Hartrus said, "I'm just glad he's got an appetite, doctor."


	76. Chapter 76

Chapter 76

After breakfast, Garrus asked, "Joker, ETA to our next fragment?" "A little more than 2 hours, Advisor." Garrus called Greg, Clowder, Solana and Gabby to the game room. He presented Liara's idea to extend Deck 4. EDI put up schematics. As they talked, Garrus said, "This looks workable, but it is more than we can do ourselves. We're going to need some time at Earth with the geth to get this done." They all went back to their usual duties.

After they were done eating in med bay, Dr Chakwas called Steve. "Cortez." "Steve, in one of the storage crates marked medical should be a wheeled chair, with fold-out parts." EDI said, "Crate MED-1834 is on the starboard side. I am putting up floor lights to direct you there Lt Cortez." Cortez found the crate. He got James and a couple marines to come help him move the crates above it. He opened it and pulled out the folded wheelchair. James directed one of the marines to take it up to med bay.

When the wheelchair arrived in med bay, Dr Chakwas was just finishing the bone treatment. The marine got the chair set up to support Maklin's left leg, then he helped Hartrus to lift Maklin from the exam bed to the chair. Dr Chakwas said, "This chair is manually operated. It can be pushed with those handles there, or it can be pushed at the wheels, but Maklin is too small to reach properly for that." Hartrus said, "Thank you very much, doctor. I'll return with him tomorrow after breakfast." Hartrus rolled Maklin out of the med bay.

EDI's robot body was waiting for Hartrus outside med bay. "Hello Lieutenant Hartrus. Hello Maklin. I am EDI. May I take you on a tour of the ship?" "Thank you, EDI. We would appreciate that." EDI took them over to the Observation Lounge. She said, "We are tracking down the fragments of the mass relay's rings. Once the fragments are all in place once more the mass relay will fuse them back together, then we can reactivate the relay." Hartrus said, "You must have quite fuel reserves to do all this FTL with no fuel stations remaining."

EDI took them over to the game room. "Outside of duty, many of the crew come here to play card games or board games." Next she took them down to Deck 5. "This is the cargo bay. The crew play ping pong, volleyball and laser tag in this space. The captain also holds martial arts classes in this space." Hartrus said, "The captain is Advisor Vakarian?" EDI replied, "No, the captain is Council Spectre Alliance Captain Cassidy Shepard Victus." Hartrus nearly choked, "She who we knew as Commander Shepard?" EDI confirmed, "That is she." Maklin said, "Father, remember? I said she would crush the Reapers and live! Is she here, on board, ma'am?" EDI said, "No, she is back in the Sol System, completing some recovery."

EDI took them to Deck 6. "This is crew housing and mess hall. If you lose your way or have a question, you may ask me. I can hear your queries from anywhere in the ship, if you start them with "EDI". Hartrus said, "Maklin, where do you want to spend your time with your games?" "The game room, please, father." EDI said, "I will accompany you on the elevator." When they got to Deck 3, Garrus was waiting for them. EDI stayed on the elevator and went up.

Garrus walked with them to the game room. "Lieutenant Hartrus, our captain asked me to determine your skills." Hartrus looked confused, "EDI said she isn't on board, Advisor?" "We have a communicator that can reach the Sol System. I spoke with her last evening." "Yes, sir. On Benning, I was in charge of facility support for the embassy. If somebody needed something, I made sure they got it. If something went wrong, I made sure it got fixed. Most times making sure things happened meant doing them myself. So essentially, I have a wide variety of skills." "I'll let her know, Lieutenant."

Hartrus asked, "Sir, may I ask a personal question?" "What is it, Lieutenant?" "Was it you she married, before the Reapers came?" "Yes, Lieutenant, she is my mate. What makes you ask?" "When you speak of her, sir, there is pride, protectiveness, and possessiveness in your voice." Garrus left and went back to Joker.

At lunch, Hartrus rolled Maklin into the mess hall. Hartrus looked at the attachments on the chair and found there was a flat top hooked to the back that hooked to the insides of the sides of the chair so that it went across Maklin's lap. Hartrus went up to the line and Rafa pointed out the dextro section. Hartrus made selections for himself and Maklin and took it all back to the table.

Solana and Liara came in. They got their trays and Solana led Liara over to Hartrus' table. Solana said, "I am Lieutenant Commander Solana Vakarian and this is Dr Liara T'Soni. May we join you, Lieutenant?" Hartrus said, "Please, sit down Lt Commander, Doctor. I am Lieutenant Milin Hartrus and this is my son, Maklin." Maklin asked, "Dr, are you a medical doctor, like Dr Chakwas?" Liara said, "No, my doctorate is in archeology, specifically Prothean archeology." Maklin asked, "Doctor, did you help Commander, no sorry, Captain Shepard take down Saren and the Reapers?" Liara said, "Yes, I helped Captain Shepard Victus. So did a lot of people, most of whom have moved on to their home planets."

Hartrus said, "Why 'Shepard Victus', doctor? What have we missed?" Solana answered, "Cassidy was adopted as Primarch Adrien Victus' daughter." Hartrus thought and asked, "That's right, Primarch Fedorian died in the Reaper attack." Liara said, "Yes, his shuttle was destroyed trying to leave Menae." Hartrus said, "OK, so General Victus became Primarch and adopted the Captain as his daughter. She must've done something big for Victus or his family." Liara said, "There are vids of the adoption ceremony on the extranet. You should look those up to find out more, once the relay is reactivated, that is."

Hartrus said, "Lt Commander, you are a Vakarian. Are you " Solana said, "The Advisor's sister, younger sister. I'm an engineer." Liara asked, "Did the Reapers kill your wife, Lieutenant?" Hartrus said, "No, actually Cerberus bombed the embassy and she was inside." Liara said, "I'm sorry for your loss." Hartrus said, "Thank you, Doctor." Solana said, "And what do you do, Lieutenant?" Hartrus said, "Facility support. In other words, whatever needs doing." Solana turned to Maklin, "And what do you do, young man?" "Ma'am, I'm learning to do lots of things, like my dad." Solana asked, "How old are you?" Maklin said, "I'm 5 and a half."

Hartrus asked, "What has been going on since the Reapers were put down? Why did it take so long for anybody to come?" Liara said, "The mass relays were damaged by the weapon the Captain released onto the Reapers. Some systems were able to repair their own relays, like Palaven, Thessia, Illium, Omega, Earth, a few others. The rest, like this one, have to wait until we can come. We've opened up four or five now?" Solana said, "That's about right, though we just delivered some resources to the batarians. They had to chase down their own fragments."

Hartrus saw Javik go to the line. Hartrus asked, "What species is he?" Liara said, "Javik is a Prothean. We recovered him out of a stasis pod. He had been in stasis for 50 thousand years." Hartrus said, "Spirits, talk about waking up and everything is not as it was." Solana said, "Quite so."

Garrus, Ken, Gabby, and Joker came in. Hartrus said, "The Advisor, I recognize. Who are the others?" Solana said, "The one with the limp is Joker, he's the ship's pilot. The other two are Ken and Gabby Donnelly. Yes, she's carrying a baby."

Solana finisher her lunch and said, "I need to go back to engineering." She picked up her tray and left. Liara followed her. At their table, Gabby watched Hartrus watch Solana. Gabby said, "I think our rescued lieutenant is finding a view to his liking." Ken said, "I know, Garrus, its hard for a brother to judge the comeliness of his sister, but is Solana something to see in turian circles?" Garrus said, "Not hunting that prey." Joker said, "I think that means its not safe to answer that one. But it looks like Hartrus thinks so."

Hartrus said, "Well, son, how about we go back to the room and play a game before nap time?" "Father, naps are for babies!" "You heard the doctor, Maklin, healing and growing take a lot of energy. You need the rest." Maklin sulked, "What does she know, she's a human." Hartrus said, "That remark is uncalled for and shows that you are not old enough to show proper respect. Dr Chakwas showed remarkable skill in healing your infection, and you will show respect for her in word and deed, do you understand, child?" "Yes, sir."

Hartrus was glad none of the others had heard Maklin's disrespect. He felt shame that he had not taught his son better. He gathered up their dishes and took the tray to the same rack Solana had taken hers to. He went back and pushed his son out of the mess hall and over to their room.

Garrus saw Maklin's display of chagrin, privately wondered what Maklin had done to rate a rebuke from his father. Hartrus was showing a similar display. Garrus thought about being in that situation with his father and realized that as a child he had not thought about his father's emotional reactions. Garrus hoped he would be less extreme than his own father in his expectations, however.

After lunch the crew returned to duty and Maklin took a nap. Hartrus asked EDI if she had copies of the articles and vids about the Captain's adoption. EDI gave him access to Diana Allers' published articles.

Garrus went to the comm room and contacted the Philippines. He waited.

Cassidy was in the pool with Hannah and Wendy. Chesa's voice came from a pool-side speaker. "Captain, the Normandy has sent a comm request." "Thank you, Chesa. Tell them I'll be there in a few minutes." "Yes, Captain."

Garrus heard an unfamiliar voice come over the QEC, "Advisor, I am the Philippines AI, Chesa, the Captain said, 'I'll be there in a few minutes.' May I send you any articles while you wait?" Garrus said, "Thank you, yes, Chesa. Please send the one about Admiral Anderson's wedding, the one with the picture of Cassidy and the girls." "Sending."

About five minutes later, Cassidy arrived, hair wet. Garrus said, "Cassidy, I'm sorry if I pulled you from something." "My mom and I were swimming with Wendy. What's going on?" "We have discussed the daycare location and Liara thought of extending Deck 4 out over the cargo bay as far as the rooms on either side go back. Clowder, Greg, Ken, Solana and Gabby all think that is feasible but its not something we can accomplish ourselves." Cassidy said, "I like the idea, it keeps the kids in the middle of the ship. I'll ask Hackett and Congregation about it."

Garrus continued, "Our turian father and son are doing well. The son, with the broken leg, is being wheeled around in a chair by his father. The father reports that he did facility support for the turian embassy on Benning. Basically, I think you would call him a 'jack of all trades'." Cassidy said, "Hmm, I'll keep that in mind. Actually, you should think about it, too. As a Spectre yourself, you should be supported by Palaven. We could do with more turians on board." Garrus said, "You are right. I will consider that."

Cassidy said, "The news here is that Wendy had her eye treatment this morning. The vision exam showed a nice improvement in her focal range afterward. They gave her the backup gene therapy for vision. It was an injection into her hip with a big needle, but with a pain block, she didn't feel a thing." Garrus said, "I'm glad it went well. We should be getting to our latest fragment soon, so I'll let you go. I love you." Cassidy said, "I love you. Shepard Victus out."

Cassidy said, "Chesa, I need an appointment with Admiral Hackett and Congregation." "Admiral Hackett has an opening at 1415 until 1500, will that do?" "Put me in for 1415 to 1430 please" Cassidy went back to get her bag and go get cleaned up. 1415 came and she walked into Hackett's office. Congregation was there. Cassidy presented the plan to extend Deck 4 for the daycare. Chesa pulled up a schematic of the area. Congregation said the geth would be able to do the work in two days, by pushing back the Selk'nam schedule by those 2 days. Hackett approved the work and the revised scheduling. He scheduled the union workers for leave time on Earth for those two days.

Cassidy returned to her rooms where Hannah was on her omni-tool and Wendy was napping. Cassidy returned to her drawing pad.

On the Normandy, fragment retrieval continued. After Maklin woke from his nap, Hartrus took him down to the game room. Maklin got back on his omni-tool to play. Hartrus pulled up his omni-tool and continued viewing Diana Allers' articles.

Dinner time came and Harturs pushed Maklin to the mess hall. He made their choices and got them both set up to eat. Joker dragged Javik over to Hartrus' table, "I'm Lieutenant Jeff Moreau, more commonly know as Joker. This is Javik, mind if we join you?" Hartrus said, "I'm Lieutenant Milin Hartrus, this is my son Maklin." Maklin asked, "Lieutenant, is the Captain coming back soon?" Joker said, "We should be seeing her within a couple days." Maklin asked, "What is your job?" Joker said, "I pilot this ship, which is usually not too hard. It gets more complicated when we are dodging enemy weapons."

Hartrus said, "Has there been dodging since the Reapers?" Joker said, "Batarians. We took down their shields and scared them back into their system." Maklin said, "Why didn't you destroy them?" Joker said, "The Captain said we had to teach them how to play nice." Javik said, "Pirates." Joker said, "Oh, yeah, though the pirates never knew we were there. They were busy avoiding a fight with the geth."

Joker said, "We were wondering, well, in turian terms, is Solana particularly attractive? Garrus wouldn't touch that question, since for a brother there is no good answer to that question." Hartrus said, "Which of the human women here is, in human terms, the most attractive?" Joker looked around and said, "Depends on what type you like. Corporal Heidi Spencer, behind me across the room, the one with the long light color braid, is a fine example, and she's a marine. Devastating combination. Parveen there behind the counter is a stunning example of her type, but she's off the market." Hartrus said, "Lt Commander Vakarian is attractive, yes."

Hartrus asked, "What brought the Captain and the Advisor together?" Joker said, "Saren. Way back when she was just a newly minted Spectre, she brought this newly resigned turian C-Sec officer on board. She took him out on mission and they developed a synergy. She took out everything that dared stand in her way and he watched her back. There was a lieutenant, practically threw himself at her, but she only had eyes for Vakarian. Vakarian fell hard for her also, everybody knew it but him, until she was gone for two years."

Maklin said, "Then she hunted Collectors!" Joker said, "We sure did, Maklin. Shepard and Vakarian were married during that time." Hartrus nodded. Joker said, "They're planning to play volleyball after dinner. You should go join in. I'll sit with Maklin. We can keep score."


	77. Chapter 77

Chapter 77

After they finished dinner, Joker walked with Hartrus and Maklin to the volleyball court. Joker said, "Cortez, would you make room by a crate so Maklin here and I can keep score?" Steve moved some crates and made room for Maklin's chair next to a crate for Joker to sit on. Garrus, Solana, James, Javik, Ken, several marines, and a couple navigators eventually showed up to play. Joker said, "Go on, Lieutenant. Go stand in there with them, they'll tell you how to play."

James took one side, Garrus the other, then they split the group between them. Solana was on James' side, Hartrus on Garrus'. Spencer showed Hartrus how to play. It took Hartrus a few points to get his bearings. He turned out to have a knack for setting, so they made him the setter. He managed a couple dinks past Solana's blocks. Solana spiked a few for kills. James' team won the first game.

Rafa came and they put her on James' team, which had a spot open. Garrus' team took the second game. The third game took longer as they battled back and forth, but finally James' team took the game and match.

The marines, navigators, and Rafa remained to start a new match. James and Javik went to the ping-pong table. Hartrus went and sat on a crate to watch. Garrus, Solana and Ken also sat around to table to watch. When Javik won game, James said, "Javik, Ken, Garrus, poker?" Those four left.

Solana looked at Hartrus, "Want to play?" "OK" They played a moderately energetic game, which Solana won. Hartrus said, "Its Maklin's bedtime." Solana said, "Tomorrow I'll teach you some of the games in the game room." Hartrus said, "I look forward to that, Lt Commander."

Hartrus collected Maklin and got him in bed for the night. He sat on his bed and pulled up his omni-tool. He pulled up his journal. He started typing a new entry: "My dearest Havera, Maklin and I still miss you, but you made me promise to find a new mate and a new mother for Maklin if you went. I may have found her. Or it may be the fact that I haven't been with anyone since you were taken from us. I'm going to try. Thank you my dearest for making me believe I was worthy of your love and worthy of love in general. Spirits guide me."

He looked at Maklin, who was sleeping. He made a decision. "EDI?" "Yes, Lieutenant Hartrus." "If I leave the room, will you monitor Maklin and alert me if he wakes?" "It is my pleasure to be of help." He pulled up his omni-tool and found a roster of the crew. He selected Solana's link and sent a message:

Guest_Lt_M_Hartrus: May I come to you?

LCdr_S_Vakarian: You may. Room 8, just down the passage.

Milin left and went to Solana's room. She let him in. "Solana, I have been in the desert for a long time. Right now, I yearn for you, but it may just be that any oasis would do. I think you are worth far more respect than that, but that's where I am." "Milin, I have also been wandering the sands. I find myself in similar straits." She came up and put her forehead up. He brought his down and touched his to hers.

He traced the sides of her armor down to her waist and held her waist in both hands for a bit. She backed up and removed her armor, so he removed his and placed it near hers. She helped him out of his undersuit. Then he helped her out of hers. He took her into a wrestling hold, she slid out before he could pin her. She flipped him and he lifted her off and righted himself.

They wrestled back and forth, quietly working each other up. Finally he flipped her onto her front over the edge of her bed. He entered her and pushed hard. "Milin!" He grabbed her waist and stroked hard and deep, faster and faster. He came and she moaned.

She grabbed a towel from the end of the bed. They rearranged themselves side by side on the bed. He turned and touched his forehead to hers again. She said, "Tell me about Maklin's mother." He said, "I met Havera Dalken on my first assignment out of training. I was on galley duty, chopping, peeling, cleaning, fetching. She was on communications. In the sparring rounds, in time she was paired with me. She beat me that first time. I won the second. We drew the third. We began to talk off duty and play strategy games, but mostly talk. She was wise and taught me to value myself. She introduced me to her favorite books. She was smarter than I."

Milin continued, "They trained her as an ambassadorial aide, on track to perhaps work up to ambassador herself someday. I was transferred to Palaven as facility support to the training camp. We saw each other off duty and then we got leave and we just took a week to tour Cipritine. We entered into civil union that week. Then I was transferred to work facility support for a logistics building not too far from her location. After six months we had the family ceremonies. Then Maklin arrived."

He paused, then said, "We were on Benning for nearly a year before Cerberus came."

Solana put her arms around his neck. "I spent a lot of the past few years alternating with my father to take care of my mother. She passed about 4 months before the Reapers came. My father and I barely managed to make one of the last shuttles evacuating off Palaven. I had a broken leg. After Cassidy brought the Reapers down, she and Garrus eventually made their way to Palaven where my father and I were assigned to housing until our estate could be made functional again. That's when she brought me aboard."

He said, "Solana, I look forward to seeing you tomorrow for breakfast. I should get back to my room before Maklin wakes." "Then I will see you at breakfast, Milin." He got up, got dressed then returned to his room where Maklin was sleeping deeply. "EDI, thank you." "You are welcome, Lieutenant Hartrus."

– _end day 16_

Solana woke with a pleasure, feeling a release from a tension she hadn't realized had gotten that bad. She picked up the towel from last night which smelled of him. She sat for a bit letting the scent bring the feel of his hands on her into focus. She got up and got cleaned up and ready for the day.

At breakfast, she found Milin in his spot getting Maklin's dishes ready. She went to the line and got breakfast for herself and went to his table. Milin said, "Good morning, Solana." Solana said, "Good morning, Milin, Maklin." Maklin, looking confused, looked from his father to Solana and back, "Good morning, ma'am. My splint comes off today." Solana said, "That's good to hear. Though I know, from experience, that today is a day where you have to be careful not to stress that leg." Milin said, "How did you break your leg, Solana?" Solana said, "The first time, we were running to get to the evacuation site. A Reaper beam hit a building nearby and big pieces of the outer wall came toward me. I dodged and dove out of the way of one, but another caught my leg as it rolled over me."

Maklin said, "The first time, ma'am? What was the other time?" Solana said, "Just a couple weeks ago, Maklin, I was in a cab on Illium with the Captain, her mother Admiral Shepard, and her daughter Melanie. We were caught in a giant chain reaction traffic accident. Our cab rolled over and over on top of a building and crashed into another building."

Milin thought for a moment and said, "So the Captain was hurt also and she's recovering in the Sol System. She must have been hurt worse than you, Solana." Solana said, "You could say that, yes." Milin said, "I haven't quite caught up on the news articles, so things from that incident should be there?" Solana thought about that, "Yes, we were a few days past that before we went into FTL, so EDI should have some of those articles stored."

They finished breakfast. Solana went to Engineering and Milin took Maklin to Dr Chakwas. Maklin cheered when Dr Chakwas took the splint off. Milin said, "Thank you very much, Dr Chakwas." Maklin said, "Thank you, doctor."

Milin took Maklin to the game room and told him to sit and play games on his omni-tool. Maklin looked at his father, and asked, "Father, why does your voice change when you talk to Lt Commander Vakarian?" Milin said, "I like her, Maklin." Maklin fiddled with a beaded cord around his wrist. "Do you like her like Mother?" Milin sighed, "We just met, son. It takes time to develop a bond as deep as the one your mother and I had." Maklin said, "Do you want to like her like Mother?"

Milin said, "I don't know yet. If I got to like someone that much, she would be a new mother to you. So, you get to speak your opinion. What do you think of the Lt Commander so far?" Maklin paused in thought then said, "She's nice. I don't know yet." Maklin said, "That's fine. We can take some time, agreed?" "Yes, Father." Maklin turned to his games and Milin pulled up news articles.

On the Philippines, Cassidy started feeling impatience. Garrus and the Normandy would be here within another day. Klein's class was over. Cassidy was in the passageway, waiting outside Hannah's room. Hannah came out and looked Cassidy over, "You're getting antsy, Cassidy." Cassidy said, "I know, mom. I can't seem to focus well on much besides their arrival."

Hannah pulled up her omni-tool and did a search. She said, "Vail's got a lodge restored. Let's go boarding." Cassidy considered that and said, "OK, that might do." Hannah made some reservations and arrangements for rentals. Cassidy contacted the daycare to say she wouldn't be back until the afternoon, then she alerted Dizzy that they were coming.

Dizzy took them down to Earth to Colorado. The weather was beautifully sunny. They landed at the resort and an employee met them and conducted them inside where they got insulated outerwear and boots and boards. The employee sent coordinates to Dizzy for a long mountain run that had been declared open and reserved for them. Hannah and Cassidy took their boards back to the shuttle.

Dizzy took them to the top and hovered while they dropped and began boarding their way down the run. The snow was nice and powdery, rising up in fantails on the turns. There were a half dozen ramps to get air. Cassidy took the jumps. Hannah boarded around the ramps. It took over an hour for them to reach the base. Dizzy met them.

Hannah said, "There a mountain top chateau, these coordinates, Dizzy We have lunch reservations there." Dizzy said, "Heading out, Captain, Admiral."

Lunch was warm and filling, the views were spectacular. Cassidy said, "Garrus wouldn't be able to appreciate this, I think. He gets cold too easy." Hannah said, "When Melanie gets break, maybe you can bring her out and teach her." Cassidy said, "Maybe. I know she'd enjoy the views at least." Hannah said, "After James and Parveen are married, you should take a day or two down in the Caribbean with Garrus. You never did get a proper honeymoon. I could make reservations for you now if you like." Cassidy said, "Let's wait until they get here as expected, then you can make plans for us if you like. Thanks, Mom, this is perfect." "Want another run?" "Yea, and this time I can pull some fancy stuff now I know what the drops are like."

They did the run again after lunch. Cassidy did increasingly difficult maneuvers off each ramp as they went down. At the bottom, Dizzy met them and took them to turn in their stuff. He returned them to the Philippines. They let Wendy finish her nap in daycare, then collected her. They took Wendy to the pool and by the time they finished her lesson, it was nearly dinner time. The flower delivery came. It was baby's breath from Rafa.

Cassidy, Wendy and Hannah ate with Thane, Tarin, Juran, Anita and Lee. Tarin asked, "How was Vail, Cassidy?"

Cassidy said, "Awesome." She sent a pic from the mountain top to them all. Juran said, "Looks cold." Tarin smothered a laugh. Anita said, "Wow, that's quite the view. I have only skied once, on a group trip in high school. It was fun. I'd like to do it again."

After dinner, Hannah took Wendy. Cassidy and Thane joined in on a volleyball match. After that, they played ping pong. Thane won 3 games to 2. Cassidy said, "Time to put Wendy to bed. Thanks for the games." Thane walked with her back to their rooms.

Once Wendy was in bed, Cassidy came out and joined Hannah at the table. She got on her omni-tool.

On the Normandy, it was evening. Garrus was behind Joker as they watched the rings get bright enough to shield the windows. EDI said, "Ring fusion will last another 8 hours. Reactivation can occur in the morning. Joker said, "I'm going to go play some poker." Garrus said, "I'd better update Cassidy."

He went to the comm room. EDI said, "Sending the comm request." Garrus waited for about 10 minutes. Cassidy's image came on. "Garrus, how's the reactivation process?" "Another 8 hours or so to go. We should be there for breakfast." "I'll let Hackett know. I miss you." "I miss you, too. That's all I have." "I will go get some sleep. See you tomorrow. Shepard Victus out."

Garrus went down to the game room. Solana was playing backgammon with Hartrus. Maklin was playing checkers with Liara. Garrus noticed a difference in Solana, she was moving with more ease and was happier. He joined the poker game.


	78. Chapter 78

Chapter 78

Cassidy woke early. She checked her messages. There was one from Garrus, "Relay is active. Alliance and Turian ships coming in for relief of Benning. We'll be jumping soon. See you soon." She asked Chesa for a suite with two bedrooms. She started packing up her stuff, then Wendy's stuff. She woke Wendy and got both of them ready. Wendy said, "Why is everything in my bag?" "Daddy is coming soon. We are moving to a bigger suite so he can stay with us." Cassidy checked the suite for any stray items, then took the bags on one arm. She let Wendy carry Jenny and her tulips. She tucked the pot of violets under one arm and grabbed the vase of flowers. She had Wendy open the door, then she led Wendy out into the passageway and over to their new suite.

Inside the new suite she put the flowers on the table, put Wendy's bag in the room with the single beds and her bag in the room with the double bed. Wendy was in her room, looking at her bag on the bed. "Mommy, I can't see you." "We can hear you and you can come here if you need to." Chesa said, "Captain, the Normandy is scheduled to dock in 10 minutes." Cassidy sent a message to Melanie and she took Wendy's hand and led her to the airlock. Melanie came and hugged Wendy and Cassidy. She took Wendy's hand. Hannah came up and stood by the girls.

Admiral Hackett and Congregation came. The door opened and Cassidy saw a line of marines with bags in hand. The front one saluted. Cassidy saluted and said, "Admiral, permission for Normandy's crew and guests to board?" Hackett returned the salute and said, "Permission granted, Captain." Cassidy called to the marines, "Carry on, crew." "Aye, aye ma'am." The marines led the crew on board. They walked by with comments like, "Good to see you well, Captain." Congregation informed them of their bunk assignments.

The last group to come off were Gabby and Ken, Greg, Dr Chakwas, Hartrus and Maklin, Solana, Joker and finally Garrus. Cassidy hugged Dr Chakwas, said hello to Hartrus and Maklin and hugged Solana. Solana hugged Melanie and knelt down so Wendy could hug her. Garrus came up and put down his bag and came up to Cassidy. He saluted and said, "I return command of the Normandy to you, Captain." Cassidy returned the salute and said, "I hereby relieve you of the command of the Normandy, Advisor." She turned to Hackett. "Sir, the Normandy is ready for retrofit, sir." "Captain, Congregation is transmitting coordinates to the Normandy for retrofit." Cassidy pulled up her omni-tool and said, "EDI you may disengage and move to the Normandy for retrofit." "Aye, aye Captain. Disengaging." Hackett turned and walked out. Congregation was still giving out bunk and room assignments.

Cassidy pulled Garrus' head down and touched her forehead to his. Then she shifted and kissed him briefly. Melanie and Wendy said, "Dad!" and "Daddy!" Cassidy let him go and he hugged Melanie then knelt to hug Wendy. He stood up and hugged Hannah. Cassidy said, "Girls go with Grandma to get us a table in the mess hall. We'll go drop off his bag and meet you there."

Hannah walked off with Melanie and Wendy. Garrus picked up his bag and walked with Cassidy. She took him to the suite and into the sitting room. She indicated their room. He went and put his bag in there, then came back and took Cassidy's hands. He said, "Cassidy, how are you?" "I am physically fine. Mentally / emotionally, I had issues at first but those seem to have receded. I did fine with partner dancing the other night." "I will do whatever you need if we find that issues still plague you, OK?" "OK". She reached up and kissed him, twining her tongue with his, feeling his arms go around her back.

She said, "They are waiting for us." She stepped back. Garrus looked at the flowers. Cassidy said, "Wendy really is into the flowers." She led him out and to the mess hall, where they joined Hannah, Wendy and Melanie. Then Solana, Hartrus and Maklin came and joined also. Solana said, "Cassidy, this is Lieutenant Milin Hartrus and his son, Maklin. They are the ones we picked up off Benning." Cassidy came over and shook Hartrus hand and Maklin's hand "Nice to meet you, Lieutenant and you, Maklin."

Cassidy asked, "Lieutenant, have you had a chance to determine if any of your family survived?" "I sent out queries this morning, before we docked, Captain. I haven't yet received any replies." Cassidy nodded.

Cassidy said to Garrus, "Hannah and I help teach a martial arts class after breakfast. Melanie needs to get back to class. So, you can take Wendy around if you like, or I can take her to daycare like usual. Either way, I'd like you to check in on everyone." Garrus said, "I'll keep Wendy with me and introduce her around." Cassidy said to Solana and Hartrus, "By the way, EDI's counterpart on this ship is Chesa."

As breakfast was winding down, Parveen came over and said, "Captain, when would be a good time for you to accompany me and Samantha to the Citadel?" "Would after lunch be alright?" "That's fine. We'll meet you at the end of lunch."

After breakfast, Solana said, "Milin, I could take Maklin around if you would like some time to search the extranet." "I would like that, thank you, Solana."

Garrus walked with Wendy over to a table near the doors of the mess hall. He caught a few of the Normandy crew and introduced Wendy and inquired about their accommodations. When he saw no more Normandy crew in the room, he asked Chesa to lead him to Liara.

Liara was in her room. "Garrus, come in." "Liara, this is my daughter Wendy." Liara said, "Hello, Wendy. I am glad to meet you." Wendy said, "Hello." Garrus said, "Is this room adequate for you, Liara?" "I don't need much, if I'm not at my equipment. I was quite busy from the time the relay reactivated until we disembarked. I can do some basic things remotely through EDI and Glyph. I will need to get back to my equipment this afternoon for a time." Garrus said, "I'll make sure you have access."

Garrus and Wendy left and found Joker, who was in the pilots' ready room, talking with some of his friends. Steve Cortez was there also. Joker said, "Hey, Garrus. So, this is our new little celebrity. I'm glad to meet you, Miss Wendy." Garrus said, "Wendy, this is our ship's pilot, Joker. That is our shuttle pilot, Steve Cortez." Dizzy said, "I am your other shuttle pilot, sir. Lt Dizzy Phelps. Your lovely daughter and I are already acquainted. She is my lucky muse." Wendy said, "Dizzy is funny." Garrus said, "Are you set up OK, Joker, Steve?" Joker said, "Yea, I've got that golf cart there to get around. I'm good." Steve said, "No problem, Advisor."

Garrus took Wendy out and went to find Javik. Javik was in his room. "Vakarian." "Javik. This is my daughter, Wendy." "Hello, Wendy." She said, "Hello." Garrus said, "Is this room acceptable?" "Yes, there is a sink and a bed. I need nothing more." Garrus and Wendy took their leave.

They found Samantha, who was with Parveen and James down in the music lounge. Garrus introduced Wendy. Parveen and Samantha came and shook Wendy's hand. James said, "Hey, Munchkin." Wendy laughed. Garrus asked about their accommodations. Samantha said, "No problem with mine, Garrus." Parveen said, "Mine is fine also, though I'll only be in it tonight." James said, "We're heading down to Earth right after the reception. I've got us a week at a resort in Acapulco. Its a tropical seaside place." Garrus and Wendy left.

They went to see Ken and Gabby, who were in their room. Gabby encouraged Wendy up onto a chair and Gabby hugged Wendy. "Hello, sweetheart. When my baby comes, you will be in daycare with him." Wendy asked, "What's his name?" Ken said, "I wanted Seamus, but she's saying David, after Anderson. I don't think David Daniels Donnelly is a good combination." Garrus said, "They haven't decided yet, Wendy. Any problems with your accommodations?" Gabby said, "We're good. But we wanted to talk to you about the Normandy. We're going to need room to have a crib, then a kid bed in the room with us." Garrus said, "I'll talk to Cassidy about that." Gabby said, "Thanks." Garrus and Wendy went out.

Next was Diana. She was in her room. Diana said, "Hello Miss Wendy. You looked darling at the wedding last weekend." Wendy said, "Thank you." Garrus said, "Are you set up okay?" Diana answered, "Good enough. I'm going to interview Admiral Hackett this afternoon. I'll need to get to my equipment sometime tomorrow morning." Garrus said, "I'll make sure you have access." "Thanks."

They found Dr Chakwas in the med bay with Lt Norquist. Norquist said, "And this is Wendy, Dr Chakwas." Chakwas said, "Very nice to meet you, Wendy. Lieutenant, this is Advisor Garrus Vakarian, the Captain's XO and her husband." Norquist said, "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Advisor." Chakwas said, "The Lieutenant is going to be working with me on the Normandy." Garrus said, "Good to meet you, Lieutenant. Dr, are you accommodations alright?" "No problems, Garrus, thank you."

Garrus and Wendy went to find Solana. She and Maklin were in the observation lounge, looking out at the other ships, the Earth and the Citadel. Solana turned around and knelt down and held out her arms. Wendy came up and Solana picked her up. Wendy said, "Hi Aunt Solana." "Hello Wendy." Garrus said, "Where's Hartrus?" Solana said, "I'm giving him some time to search for family." "Any problem with your room?" "No, it seems fine."

Wendy said, "What's that?" pointing out the window. Maklin said, "That's the Earth, and that's the Citadel." Wendy said, "Eden Prime is blue, too."

Hannah walked in. "Garrus, Solana. If you don't mind, Garrus, I'll take Wendy to the gardens, give you and Cassidy some time together. She's in your suite. You can tell her that I've booked a Carribean island for you two, for two days, starting day after tomorrow." Garrus said, "What kind of place is this Carribean island?" "Tropical, private. You'll enjoy it, I'm sure."

Garrus went back to the room. Cassidy was in the bedroom, wrapped in a towel, hair wet. She looked up at Garrus as he came in. She asked, "Where's Wendy?" "Hannah came and got her." "I wondered when she took off immediately after class."

Garrus went in and shut the bedroom door. Cassidy turned to face him and, with a little smile, said, "Something on your mind?" Garrus said, "You look . . ." Cassidy came up and took his hands and put them on her shoulders. He traced her neck scar. Cassidy reached around and unclipped the clips of his upper armor. He took it off and laid it on the floor. She undid the bottom clips and he took off his boots, then those off. She pulled down the zipper of his undersuit and he took that off.

She said, "You look puzzled." He said, "How does that towel stay on you?" She said, "Pressure and friction." She reached and took his hand and placed his finger under the join of the towel. She said, "Pull outward." He did and the towel fell away. She reached up, molding herself to him and kissed him deeply. He put his hands on her back and waist.

She backed up and pulled him with her until she reached the bed. She sat on it and pulled him down to his knees. She took his hand and put it on her belly and pushed it down so his finger was over her clit. She pushed his talon down onto it. He started rubbing there. She started breathing heavier. She kissed him, then asked, "What is it you want to do?" He said, "I want to bring you here, turn you around and on your knees, bite your shoulder and send my finger into you." She got up and turned around and went to her knees. "Do it then."

He wrapped one arm around her waist and placed the other between her legs. He licked behind her ear and on her neck. He nipped her neck lightly and she relaxed her neck and shoulder a bit more. He pulled her tight, bit down and pushed his finger in as far as he could. She cried out. He held the bite as he pumped his finger. She moaned. He released the bite, took his finger out and pushed his cock in and let her ride.

She stood up and lay on her belly over the edge of the bed. He came up and entered her again, grabbed her waist and stroked, hard and harder, over and over. She moaned and he came. They crawled up onto the bed and she turned toward him, put her forehead to his.

He ran a finger over her breast, playing with the nipple. He said, "More, my mate?" She said, "Hell, yes.."

He pushed her on her back and kissed her, twining his tongue with hers. He moved his head down and licked her nipple, then the other. He took his finger and rubbed her clit, while he licked her breasts. He moved down again and licked her clit and caressed her breast. The heat rose in her again.

She turned him onto his back and straddled him, taking his renewed cock into her. He pumped and she rode. He turned her onto her back and got on his knees, grabbed her waist and pushed into her as deep as he could. He stroked, pushing her up and pulling down on her waist. He came again and she cried, "Oh Garrus!"

They laid down and she kissed his forehead then his mouth. She said, "I have missed you so much. Two weeks were almost worse than the six months." He said, "I know exactly what you mean. I missed you, too." He looked around, "Where's your medi-gel? We need to treat your neck." She got up and reached down into her bag and pulled out a packet. He opened and applied it.

She said, "You get in the shower while this stuff does its thing." He got up, grabbed his bag and went into the bathroom. She got up and stripped the bloody linens off the bed and into the laundry bag. She pulled clean ones out of the closet and put them on the bed.

When he came out, she showered again. He put his armor back on, then pulled up the extranet and looked up information about Caribbean islands. She came back out, "Anything interesting?" "Your mother reserved a Caribbean island for us for a couple days. It looks like a beautiful place." Cassidy said, "I've never been there for a vacation, just some training in the heat and swamps and bugs." She tied her boots and said, "Let's go find Wendy."


	79. Chapter 79

Chapter 79

Solana and Maklin were in the exercise area when Milin found them. Solana said, "Find anything?" Milin said, "Yes, but . . . " and indicated Maklin. Solana nodded. She led them over to the track and started walking on the outside lane. Solana said, "How fast can you go around the track, Maklin?" Maklin said, "Time me, father!" Milin pulled up a timer and said, "Go!" Maklin raced off. Milin and Solana stepped off the track to wait for him.

Milin said, "My parents did not survive, neither did Havera's. My sister was on a ship that was destroyed in the Battle for Earth. Havera was an only child. The closest relation on my side is a third cousin. The closest on hers is her mother's sister, who is commanding a ship in the Citadel Fleet now." Solana said, "I'm sorry." Milin said, "It isn't anything I didn't expect, not with way the Reapers blasted through everything. Maklin doesn't remember his grandparents, he was so little when we left for Benning. We would exchange vid mails with them every few months, but I think he doesn't even remember that much."

Maklin came running up and Milin said, "127 seconds."

Lunchtime came. Liara joined Solana, Milin and Maklin. Cassidy brought Garrus, Wendy and Hannah to eat with Tarin, Juran, Anita and Lee. Cassidy said, "Garrus this is Captain Tarin Woo, commands the flight deck, Commander Juran Arterius, an engineer, Captain Anita Rodrigues, chief engineer, and Captain Lee Carruthers, XO. My friends, this is Advisor Garrus Vakarian, my XO and my husband." Tarin said, "Glad to meet you, Garrus." Juran said, "Advisor, sir." Lee said, "Good to see you again, Advisor." Anita said, "Pleased to meet you, Advisor."

As lunch was drawing to a close, Parveen and Samantha came over. Cassidy said, "Chesa, please notify the Normandy crew that if they want to spend the afternoon on the Citadel, shuttles will be leaving shortly." Garrus said, "Sparatus wants a word so I'll head over with you."

Cassidy, Garrus, Paveen and Samantha went to the flight deck. Solana, Milin and Maklin came up and joined them. Ken and Gabby came in. Liara walked up. Jackson and Usyk arrived. Steve and Dizzy came out of the ready room. Cassidy said, "Solana, Lt Hartrus and Maklin, Ken and Gabby, and Usyk all with Lt Dizzy Phelps." Dizzy said, "Bay 1, folks." Cassidy asked, "Liara, are you needing to get onto the Normandy?" Liara said, "Actually, yes." Cassidy said, "Steve we'll drop Liara off on our way over." Steve said, "We're in Bay 2."

As they were loading, Steve said, "The new shuttles are nice, Captain. Handling is even more responsive." Cassidy got on the comm, "EDI?" "Yes, Captain?" "We are coming in to drop Liara off. Please make sure the geth working in the cargo bay are aware of this." EDI said, "The geth say they will suspend work to allow you to dock and Liara to get to her quarters." Steve said "Lifting off."

Steve brought the shuttle over to the Normandy, cleared the barrier at the back of the cargo bay and settled it gently onto the deck. Liara and Cassidy got out. Liara went toward the elevator. Cassidy looked up at the work area and saw the geth had taken out the wall between the exposed portion of Deck 4 and the cargo bay. They had the floor out about 2 meters. Clowder came up, "Captain, work is proceeding as planned. We consulted with Alliance personnel and with educational design researchers. The space will be functional yet pleasant." "Thank you, Clowder. Dismissed." Clowder stepped back and Cassidy got back into the shuttle.

When they arrived at the Citadel, Dizzy's shuttle was there and Solana, Hartrus and Maklin were waiting over at the cab stand. Steve set down and Parveen and Samantha started to head for the cab stand, so Cassidy said, "No, our ride is over here. I can't take cabs anymore." Garrus headed for the elevator, "I'll let you know when I'm done." Jackson opened the Alliance car and Cassidy, Parveen and Samantha climbed in. Jackson got in and the door closed.

The driver took them to the seamstress' shop. Parveen chose a red top and floor length skirt with sash. The embroidery was silver. She chose silver and red and white jewelry and silver shoes. Parveen put Samantha in pink and white. Cassidy was going to wear her formal uniform, so she wasn't getting a dress, but she picked a simple lilac dress, tights and shoes for Wendy and a teal one for Melanie.

They went to the flower shop and Parveen ordered her flowers. She also puchased a tin of henna paste with an applicator. While they were doing that, Cassidy looked out the door and saw a new shop across the street: The Chocolatier. When Parveen was done, Cassidy told Jackson that they were going across the street. Cassidy bought packages of levo and dextro truffles. She bought banana splits for them and they had fun eating them. Garrus texted that he was heading for the shuttle. They finished their ice cream and went back. Cassidy sent a message to Liara that they were leaving the Citadel.

Steve took them to the Normandy. Cassidy went in to get her formal uniform. She went through the door that was now to the immediate left. She took a look at Wendy's room, smiling at how it looked perfect. Callista came and rubbed herself against Cassidy's legs. Cassidy picked up Callista, scratched her ears and listened to her purr. She went to the locker, put Callista on the bed and got her uniform bag out, checking it to be sure everything was there.

Cassidy stopped by Liara's room on the way down. Glyph said, "Welcome, Captain." Cassidy said, "You ready to go back? We could send a shuttle over later if you're not ready." Liara said, "Just give me a moment here. I need to grab my dress and stuff here." They went down and got in the shuttle. EDI got her platform in, too.

After they docked on the Philippines, Garrus and Cassidy took the bags to their room. Hannah and Wendy were there, working on Wendy's writing. Wendy jumped up, "Hi Mommy, Hi Daddy!" Garrus put his bag on a chair and picked Wendy up. She hugged his neck. Cassidy hung the bags in the closet.

They went to dinner and afterward, Cassidy, Hannah, Wendy, Solana, Liara, Diana, Samantha, Gabby, Dr Chakwas and EDI went to the observation lounge to take turns putting henna patterns on Parveen's hands and arms. Cassidy and Wendy left for Wendy's bedtime.

The marines took James to Earth for a bachelor party at a bar in London.

Garrus and Thane were at the table talking when Cassidy led Wendy into the room. Cassidy got Wendy ready for bed and kissed her goodnight. Wendy asked, "Daddy kisses, too?" Cassidy went into the sitting room and sat at the table. "Somebody would like Daddy to kiss her goodnight." Thane said, "I wish you all a good night" and left. Garrus went in to Wendy. He came back out and closed the door behind him. He sat across from Cassidy.

Cassidy asked, "Anything you can share from Sparatus?" Garrus said, "He mostly asked questions, about Benning, about you, about our plans. He has authorized me to transfer whatever turians I care to to the crew."

Cassidy asked, "Are Solana and Hartrus seeing each other?" Garrus said, "I think they probably did some tension relief, but so far they seem to be just getting to know one another, friendly like. It could develop into something more or it could just stay friendly. We'll just have to wait and see."

Cassidy said, "We didn't talk about your rounds of the crew this morning. Any issues?" Garrus replied, "Ken and Gabby would like a family suite on the ship. Its not urgent yet but since the Normandy is undergoing retrofit anyway, maybe we could add in something for them." Cassidy got on her omni-tool, "Congregation?" "Yes, Captain?" "I'd like to discuss a small addition to the Normandy work. Do you have some time?" Congregation said, "I am available." "If you could come to my suite, that would be preferable. Wendy is in bed and I want Advisor Vakarian to be in on our discussion." "I will come."

Congregation arrived and asked, "What additional change do you have in mind, Captain?" "We need a family suite for Engineers Ken and Gabby Donnelly, who are expecting a baby. Can you combine a couple rooms on Deck 6?" Congregation projected a view of Deck 6 onto the table. He paused a moment to confer with other geth. "We could take these rooms across from one another in the forward starboard corner, take out their doors, install a door here to the passageway. Then a bathroom along the outer side, here. Garrus said, "Looks good to me." Cassidy said, "Let's move the bathroom over into that corner, so as to keep as much room in the walkway as possible." Garrus said, "Or, you could move the bulkheads there, so the walkway would be there instead."

Cassidy said, "Which way is easier to implement, Congregation?" "There is no significant difference in the work times for either one, Captain. Which is more aesthetically pleasing?" Cassidy said, "Over in the corner gives more privacy should the outer door open up. Put it in that corner." "Adding to the work order, Captain." How much time will this add?" "Approximately three hours, Captain." Cassidy said, "Could the same thing be done on the port side, in case we get another family?" "Yes, Captain, mirror image layout." "Then add that, too. Thank you, Congregation." "Adding a port side family suite. My pleasure, Captain, Advisor." Congregation left.

Garrus asked, "Did you inform my father of our adoption of Wendy?" Cassidy replied, "I sent a message with pictures." "We should call him, sometime tomorrow morning when Wendy is awake." Cassidy said, "I'll put a reminder in for just after Klein's class."

Out of nowhere, Cassidy felt a creeping anxiety. She looked down at the table, her hands curling to fists, fighting to keep from her connection to the room from slipping. Garrus looked up from his omni-tool and noticed her face, not looking quite right. "Cassidy, are you alright? Cassidy!" Cassidy's control slipped and she was back in the dark, hard rock under her, wet tunic on her back, freezing. Garrus said, "Chesa, get Dr Handyside here."

Cassidy heard a deep voice, "Shepard. You breached the darkness. You broke the cycles. We can take or negotiate. Your choice." Cassidy asked, "What do you need?" "Repair our relay." "What are you offering?" "We will listen." "If I refuse?" "We will listen no more." "The minds of my crew?" "We will not touch any of yours, ever, if you come." "I need more than a day to prepare before starting the journey." "We will watch."

Dr Handyside came in, "What was going on when she slipped out?" Garrus said, "We were just dealing with plans, things for the Normandy, things for the family." Handyside said, "Nobody was touching her?" Garrus said, "No." Handyside said, "She's shivering like she's losing body heat fast. Chesa, get somebody down here stat with a heating blanket."

Garrus said, "Why don't we put her under a hot shower?" Handyside said, "Carrying her without her consent would make things worse."

Garrus looked at her skin, turned clammy and pale, reminding him of that awful diving mech. Garrus said, "Spirits! Some ship has one of those damn Leviathan control orbs. Chesa, get me Admiral Hackett." Hackett's voice, "Advisor?" " Admiral, there's a Leviathan control orb somewhere in this system. I think they're talking to Cassidy. My advice is to find it and get it shielded!" Hackett said, "Acknowledged, Advisor. Chesa, bring the shields on full! All Alliance ships in the Sol System are to remain fully shielded until further notice." Hackett went to his office.

Cassidy lost consciousness and her head went down onto the table. Chesa said, "The heating blanket is here, Dr Handyside." Garrus said, "Open the door." Two seamen came in with a heating blanket and a folded up carry frame. Handyside took out his scanner and ran it over her head. "I think she is far enough out now that we can move her. You two, unfold the blanket and lay the bottom of that blanket on the couch. Garrus, you lift her and lay her on the blanket." Garrus picked up her cold body, carried her and laid her gently on the blanket. He reached up, pulled the blanket over, set the temp and turned it on. He said, "Dr Chakwas had her drink hot chocolate." Handyside said, "Chesa, have the galley send a big insulated container of hot chocolate." "Relaying your order, Dr Handyside."

Handyside dismissed the seamen. He said, "Advisor, come to the table and tell me about the Leviathans." Garrus got up and went to the table. His gaze remained on Cassidy. Garrus said, "We tracked them down. They were way way deep at the bottom of an ocean. She went down in a diving mech. They communicated with her, mind to mind. When she came back up, she was even colder that this. We thought it was because she had shut down non-essential power use on the mech, but now it looks like it's the communication that takes her heat."

Cassidy woke. She was in the suite, covered in a heating blanket. She was still cold on the inside, though, like she had been after the diving mech incident, though not as bad. "Garrus?" Garrus got up and went to her. "Cassidy, hot chocolate is on the way." "Help me sit up, please." Garrus grabbed the couch pillows, helped her scootch up and put the pillows behind her back. She said, "We aren't going to the Caribbean, sorry love." Garrus said, "The Leviathans want you?" Cassidy said, "They are willing to talk, if we open a relay for them." "And if we don't?" "They'll do as they please." Garrus said, "Damn. We're supposed to be thrilled that they're condescending to negotiate? Spirits, you can't shoot mind control."

Chesa said, "The hot chocolate has arrived, Dr Handyside." Handyside said, "Open the door." A galley worker came in. Handyside pointed to Garrus and the worker handed the container to Garrus. Garrus unscrewed the top of the container, Handyside pulled a tall mug out of the cabinet and handed it to Garrus. Garrus filled the mug and helped Cassidy to drink. The worker said, "The galley has hot soup ready. White bean chicken chili, tomato basil, and minestrone." Cassidy said, "Bring the minestrone." The worker said, "Aye, aye, Captain" and left.

Chesa said, "Capt. Carruthers requests entrance." Garrus said, "Let him in." Lee came in, "Doctor, Advisor, Captain." He took a chair from the dining table and placed it so he could see Cassidy. "Admiral Hackett has asked the Council to search all the ships that have come through the relay in the last day. Of course the other races are stalling, and a few ships are leaving the system rather than submit to search. We will run with full shields for the forseeable future. Its an energy expense, but better that than having a controlled crew come in and fire on half-shielded ships."

Cassidy said, "They are willing to talk, if I go open a relay for them." Lee asked, "So, they're stuck?" Cassidy said, "Not forever though. It might take them years to build up the infrastructure in their system to produce the parts, but they will eventually make a ship to get out. If we don't help out, I think we'll be first on their thrall shit list when they do get out." "So, you're planning to go, as a Spectre, for the safety of the galaxy?" Cassidy said, "Yup." She stuck a hand out for the hot chocolate. Garrus refilled the mug and handed it to her.

Lee said, "I brought the equipment necessary for you to talk to the Council, if you're up to it." Cassidy said, "If I don't have to get out of the heat, I'll talk to them." Lee got out of his chair, went behind it and got out spheres like the Illusive Man had used on Palaven. He said, "Chesa, accept the comm request from the Council." The four spheres rose up and the images of the Councilors came on.

Tevos said, "Is this report correct, Captain? The Leviathans made contact with you?" Cassidy repeated what she had told Lee. Sparatus asked, "When will you begin the journey, Captain?" Cassidy said, "We should be ready in about 36 hours or so." Carter said, "Come see us before you leave, Captain." Cassidy said, "I'll come tomorrow night." Sparatus said, "We will expect you both then." Garrus said, "Yes, Councilor." The images faded and Lee caught up the spheres.

The minestrone and some warm bread arrived and Garrus brought the bowl to her. Cassidy dug into it appreciatively. Lee said, "I'll update the Admiral. Goodnight Brian, Garrus, Cassidy." Dr Handyside said, "Let me scan you once more, Captain. Then I'll let you two get your rest." Cassidy held still while Handyside did the scan. Handyside said, "Fifteen more minutes in the blanket out to do it, Captain." She said, "Will do, Doctor."

Handyside said, "Goodnight Garrus, Cassidy." Cassidy said, "Goodnight Brian." Handyside left.

Cassidy said, "Chesa, project a galaxy map please." Sigurd's Cradle was an offshoot from Omega.

Garrus said, "No diving mechs." Cassidy smiled and said, "Agreed. No diving mechs." She finished the bread, minestrone, hot chocolate, and 15 minutes. Garrus helped her up. They got ready for bed.

Garrus pulled her close and she sighed contentedly and they went to sleep.


	80. Chapter 80

Chapter 80

Cassidy woke and appreciated that Garrus was there next to her. She rolled over and he said, "Good morning." She said, "I'm happy that you are here." He flicked his flanges, leaned down and kissed her. Cassidy took his hand off her waist, "Sorry, but Wendy's going to wake up anytime now."

They got ready. Cassidy sent out orders for the re-provision of the Normandy. Garrus sent out a notice to the crew of their scheduled departure time. They took Wendy down to breakfast.

They sat with Solana, Hartrus and Maklin. Hannah and Thane joined them. Lt Hartrus said, "Captain, I understand the Normandy is heading out on duty tomorrow morning. Maklin and I can head to the Citadel and find a ship to Palaven from there." Garrus saw Solana's flanges tighten. She was unhappy. Garrus looked at Cassidy. Cassidy nodded.

Garrus said, "Lieutenant, I am adding you to our crew as facility support. Various crewmembers have been pitching in to take care of things but it will be good to have it organized and supervised." Solana looked over at Hartrus, who had his fork stationary in the air. He said, "Yes, sir." Wendy said, "Maklin can play with me?" Cassidy said, "We are putting a daycare in, even as we speak." Solana said to Hartrus, "Cassidy and Garrus are bringing Wendy because the Normandy is the safest place we know."

Hartrus said, "Captain, ma'am, permission to board the Normandy this morning to make a facility assessment?" "Permission granted, Lieutenant. EDI can assist you." Cassidy sent messages to EDI and Steve. Garrus sent a message to Palaven. Solana's flanges relaxed.

Cassidy took Wendy to daycare. After class, Klein kept Cassidy back and Hannah went to her room. Klein handed her a cinnamon roll and said, "Issues will come up, when you least expect them." Cassidy said, "I figured as much." "Chakwas can help in urgency. Come see me when you return." "Yes, sir." They finished their rolls and Klein wished her a successful mission.

Cassidy went to the room to shower and change. Garrus came in with Wendy. Garrus said, "We need to call Grandfather Garvin." Cassidy said, "I'll be out in a minute." Garrus sent the comm request. Cassidy came out and sat next to Garrus who had Wendy on his lap. Garvin answered, "Garrus, Wendy, Cassidy! Good to hear from you. Are you coming to Palaven soon? I expect to be able to move back to our estate in a week or so." Garrus said, "We are headed out on duty tomorrow morning." Cassidy said, "It shouldn't take us more than a couple weeks, then we should be able to come." Garvin said, "Rahana Victus won't be happy about that, but duty is duty."

Chesa flashed a message onto Garrus' screen, "Call request from Aria T'Loak for the Captain." Garrus said, "We'll contact you again when we're done, father." Garvin said, "Take care. Tell Solana to call. Goodbye Wendy, Cassidy, Garrus."

Cassidy said, "I'll go take the call in the comm room." Garrus said, "Wendy and I will go to the gardens."

Cassidy went to the comm room. The comm officer said, "Connecting to Omega." Cassidy saw Aria's image come up, "Aria." "Cassidy. I hear you are coming to open up the Sigurd's Cradle relay. Those mind control monsters are back there, on my back step. Should I be worried?" Cassidy replied, "Yes. They say they are willing to talk if I open their relay, but they really don't need to. If I don't go, they won't be looking to talk when they get out on their own." Aria looked resigned, "Come talk to me before you head out there. We'll have some sushi." "Alright, I accept. I like sushi." "Good. Omega out."

Cassidy felt a headache coming on. She was massaging her temples as she stepped out of the comm room. She heard Hackett's voice, "My office, Captain." "Aye, aye sir." She went into his office and he handed her a glass of water and a pill. She took the pill and washed it down. Hackett said, "At ease. That takes about a minute to kick in. Have a seat." Cassidy sat down, drank the rest of the water and waited. Then the muscles in her head unclenched. She said, "That's better. Thank you. Though I could still use something to shoot."

Hackett said, "I know. Unfortunately, you've shown a talent for diplomacy. The Council is going to skew your missions that way, even when the other side doesn't contact you personally. We're having a small ceremony at lunch in the mess hall. You'll be getting your star. There are several reasons for this. One is that you deserve the promotion. Another is that for galactic negotiations, it is not appropriate for a Captain to do that. And yet another reason is that there aren't too many admirals left after the war."

Hackett continued, "You may continue doing Spectre activities, but as I said, the Council is going to use you for diplomacy. We are going to make Vega and a couple other marines into Spectres in the coming months, to do the more covert operations. We are going to keep you on the Normandy because nobody on the Council will tolerate anybody else being in charge of the galaxy's most potent power source. You will promote Moreau, Cortez and Vega after you are promoted." Hackett handed her three sets of insignia for Lieutenant Commander. Cassidy said, "I'd better go get into my formal uniform then, and I won't have to change for the wedding either." Hackett said, "Since so many of us will be in formals for the wedding we figured to hold this ceremony just before and not waste the effort of dressing."

Cassidy stood and Hackett said, "See you in the mess hall, Cassidy." She left.

Cassidy returned to the room. She put the insignia in the pocket of her formal jacket and sent the message to the three of them to wear their formals to lunch. She decided there was time enough to get a short swim in. She grabbed her swim stuff and jogged off to exercise area.

Solana took Maklin to the flight deck when she got the message from Milin that he was returning from the Normandy. Maklin asked, "When can I learn to be a pilot, ma'am?" "If you show a talent for that in basic, Maklin, then you will be assigned to specialized pilot training." Milin came out and Maklin said, "Hello father." Milin said, "Hello, Maklin. Hello, Solana." They started walking to lunch. Milin said, "It took some orientation, things are organized differently than on a turian ship. It is well stocked though. I only had to ask EDI to requisition a few things." Solana said, "The Normandy was co-designed by the humans and the turians." Milin said, "That's probably why it doesn't feel as strange as I thought it might."

Garrus and Wendy came back to the room to put her pot of violets on the table before lunch. Garrus went into the bedroom to see if Cassidy was there. Garrus said, "Formals? Won't you have time after lunch to change for the wedding?" "We're doing a promotion ceremony at lunch." "Are you getting promoted?" "Yes, I'll be a Rear Admiral, but they're leaving me on the Normandy. Apparently, I'm the only one the Council can agree to be in charge of her special power source." Cassidy stood in front of the mirror and put on her cap

At lunch, the crew of the Philippines saw the stage and saw the formal uniforms of several officers. They quieted down. Cassidy helped get Wendy seated with her meal, then left her in the care of Garrus. Hannah was also in formals and walked with Cassidy to stand at the base of the stairs to the stage. Admiral Hackett came in and went to the center of the stage. The room stood and saluted and Hackett returned the salute.

"We are conducting this promotion ceremony to recognize the contributions of a few officers that are here now. First, I call up Rear Admiral Hannah Shepard. It is my pleasure to present her with her second Admiralty star. Admiral Shepard will command the First Fleet at Arcturus once the carrier Selk'nam is completed." Hannah removed her single stars and Hackett pinned on the double stars. He saluted her and the room applauded.

Hackett said, "Next is my distinct honor to promote Captain Cassidy Shepard Victus. Granting this star is not all she deserves but she's not ready for a desk, so one star it is." Cassidy came up, removed her birds and Hackett pinned the single stars in their places. The room roared with applause, whoops and whistles.

Hackett said, "I turn this over to Rear Admiral Shepard Victus now."

Cassidy said, "I call up Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau, who has pulled off insanely inspired flying to keep our hides in one piece, time and again. I also call up Flight Lieutenant Steve Cortez who has us gotten safely in and out of a great many combat landings. It is my pleasure to promote them to Flight Lt Commander." She handed one set to Hackett and they pinned the new bars onto Joker and Steve.

Cassidy said, "Finally, I call up Marine Second Lieutenant James Vega. He is heading for more N7 training and it is my pleasure to send him to it as a Marine First Lieutenant." James removed the bar he had and she pinned him with the new bar. He quietly said, "I like having your hands on me, Lola." She quietly replied, "Don't let your bride hear you, Vega."

Hackett said, "You may return to your meals." Applause.

Cassidy and Hannah went to the table where Garrus, Wendy, Solana, Milin, Maklin, and Thane were. Garrus stood up and held out the chairs for both of them. He said, "Congratulations to both of you. It will take a little while to get used to thinking of my mate as an Admiral." Galley workers came out with steaks and champagne for the two of them. Wendy said, "Mommy, what is that?" Cassidy cut off a small bite and put it on Wendy's plate. Cassidy said, "That's steak, honey. It comes from cows. Hamburger comes from cows, too, but steak is better." Wendy put the bit of steak in her mouth and chewed. "I like it, Mommy."

When lunch was done, Cassidy messaged Administrator Sanders Anderson to let Melanie go from class for the wedding. Melanie met them at the room. She stared at Cassidy's star and said, "Wasn't that a bird before?" Wendy said, "Mommy's an Ad-miral now." Melanie hugged Cassidy and said, "That's so cool, Mom. Congratulations!" Cassidy said, "Thank you, honey. Now let's get you two dressed."

When everybody was dressed and ready, they went down to the music lounge. Cassidy joined Parveen in the dressing room. Parveen said, "Congratulations on your promotion, Admiral." Samantha said, "That's awesome, Cassidy. Diana filmed the whole promotion ceremony." Samantha handed Cassidy a floral garland and Cassidy hung it around her neck.

The music began and Cassidy went down the aisle to the stage and turned to face the audience. Steve came in, followed by James. Then Samantha came in, followed by Parveen. James and Parveen stood in front of Cassidy. Cassidy said, "We are gathered here today to witness the civil union of Parveen Marar and James Felipe Vega. Parveen and James then turned to face each other.

They exchanged their garlands, each placing theirs on the other's neck. Samesh came up the aisle with a shot glass filled with yogurt and honey. He presented the shot glass to James. Samesh said, "I offer this yogurt and honey to you as Parveen's groom as a welcome and as a token of our respect. James took it, knocked it back, and placed the shot glass on a small table to the side. Samesh took Parveen's hand and placed it in James' hand.

Parveen turned to the table and took a small lace bag of sandalwood, herbs, sugar rice and oil. James took the lighted candle. They turned to the raised brazier that Samesh had just placed in front of them. He lit the kindling under the small pile of sticks and waited for the fire to catch on the sticks. She said, "Agni, god of Fire, we beg you to bear witness to our displays and vows of commitment to one another." She put the lace bag into the fire.

Samantha and Steve stepped up to the fire and each put in a lace bag with rice inside. Parveen said, "Agni, god of Fire, we beg you accept our offering of this rice as a symbol of our sacrifice for your regard."

Parveen and James turned back to each other. Cassidy said, "Do you Parveen take James to be your lawfully wedded spouse?" Parveen said, "I do." Cassidy said, "Do you James take Parveen to be your lawfully wedded spouse?" James said "I do." Cassidy came down and took the ends of Parveen's red scarf and James' white one and tied them together.

Parveen took James' hand and led him around the fire closkwise four times. Cassidy said, "The first time round represents Dharma, the religious and moral duties. The second time around represents Artha, prosperity. The third time around represents Kama, earthly pleasures. The final time around represents Moksha, spiritual salvation and liberation." Parveen led James around to the front of the brazier in the aisle.

Cassidy said, "Step together once as a vow to honor and respect each other.

Step together again as a vow to share each other's joy and sorrow.

Step together a third time as a vow to trust and be loyal to each other.

A fourth time, step together as a vow to cultivate appreciation for knowledge, values, sacrifice and service.

Step together again to reconfirm your vow to remain pure, to fulfill family duties and pursue spiritual growth.

Your sixth step together is a your vow to follow principles of righteousness

The seventh step together is your vow to nurture an eternal bond of friendship and love.

Parveen and James returned to the spot between Cassidy and the brazier. Samesh and a Marine general went to the table and each took a rose out of a bowl of water. Samesh went behind Parveen and the general behind James. They sprinkled the water off the roses onto Parveen and James.

James got a small bowl off the table and dipped his finger in it. He put his red finger onto Parveen's forehead, leaving a red dot there. Parveen and James traded places. They turned and bent down and touched the feet of Samesh and the general. Samesh and the general put their hands on the heads of James and Parveen.

James and Parveen stood up and turned back to each other. Samesh and the general sat down.

Cassidy said, "Do you, James, have a token to present as a symbol of this union?" Steve handed James a ring. James held Parveen's left hand and said, "With this ring, I thee wed." He slid the ring onto her ring finger. Cassidy said, "Do you, Parveen, have a token to present as a symbol of this union?" Samantha handed her a ring. Parveen took James' left hand. She said, "With this ring, I thee wed." She slid the ring onto his finger.

Cassidy said, "Having witnessed their voluntarily given consent to enter into civil union, I give you the galaxy's latest married couple, James and Parveen. You may kiss you bride, James." James dipped Parveen and kissed her.


	81. Chapter 81

Chapter 81

Samesh said, "Hor de'vours and drinks at the back." They cleared the chairs for dancing. James and Parveen danced together for the first dance, then took off their tied scarves. Then Cassidy danced with James and the general danced with Parveen. James said, "Probably the one and only time I'll get to manhandle an Admiral." Cassidy laughed.

Garrus claimed Cassidy for the third dance, which was a tango. Garrus said in her ear, "But I get to manhandle an Admiral now and again and again." Cassidy laughed, "Did you arrange for this tango music now?" Garrus said, "Would I skip an opportunity to show off?" and lifted and spun her.

Garrus danced with Melanie while Cassidy danced with Steve. Garrus danced with Wendy up in his arms and Cassidy danced with Javik.

Hannah took Wendy off for her nap. James and Parveen cut the cake and fed each other a piece. Cassidy saved a piece of cake for Wendy. She ate her cake and had a glass of white wine. Garrus had red frosted cupcakes, as did Solana.

Garrus danced with Solana and Liara claimed Cassidy. Then Garrus danced with Liara and Cassidy with Javik.

Garrus danced with Ashley and Cassidy danced with Samesh. Garrus danced with Cassidy for the last dance.

Parveen and James took the center of the dance floor and James made a show of looking up and down Parveen's henna drawings for their names. Finally he spotted them and lifted Parveen up and carried her out.

Garrus leaned over and kissed Cassidy. He said, "I think you'll enjoy the turian family ceremony, well the celebration afterward, I mean." Cassidy said, "I know I'll treasure it all." and put her forehead to his. Garrus said, "I got something for you on the Citadel, to replace the one that was stolen." He pulled a ring out of his pocket and put it on her hand. Cassidy said, "Thank you. That's sweet." She kissed him.

Joker was over at the next table with EDI and said, "EDI got video and pics all around, including you being mushy with your husband, Admiral." Cassidy laughed and said, "We'll keep that one in house, eh?"

Ashley came over with Melanie. Ashley said, "Congratulations, Admiral." Cassidy said, "It's still Cassidy to you, please, Spectre to Spectre." Ashley said, "You get out of formals, I'll cut the formality. I can't say anything but Admiral when you're in your whites." Cassidy said, "Good enough."

Cassidy and Garrus walked back to their suite with Melanie. Hannah was there, changed into her fatigues. She said, "This package was dropped off a little bit ago. It's your new fatigues, I'm guessing." Cassidy put Wendy's piece of cake on the table and put her flower garland on the table also. Garrus said, "You two go change, I'll wait." Cassidy took her package and she and Melanie went into the bedroom to change. Cassidy asked, "Mel, do you want to go to the Citadel with us to return the dresses, have dinner at the Cheung's place, and hang with Grandma and Wendy while your dad and I talk to the Council?" Melanie said, "Seeing as you're leaving before I get up in the morning, yea, I'm coming."

While they were waiting for Garrus, Wendy woke up. She ate her cake and said, "Parveen was pretty, Mommy." Cassidy said, "She sure was." Wendy said, "This is your flower necklace? Can I wear it?" Cassidy doubled the garland over and put in around Wendy's neck. Cassidy called down to let Dizzy know they were coming. Melanie said, "Huiqing is asking if she can go with us. Her parents will bring her back after the weekend." Cassidy said, "If she's got permission from Administrator Sanders Anderson."

Garrus came out, Cassidy gathered up Wendy's dress and such, Melanie gathered hers, Hannah took Wendy's hand and they went out to the flight deck. Two of the marines were waiting for them. Huiqing came running up with a backpack. Cassidy checked her messages and there was one from Sanders Anderson authorizing Huiqing's trip to the Citadel. Dizzy came out and took them to the Citadel.

At the seamstress shop, Cassidy returned the dresses, then had Wendy measured again and took a copy of the file. She sent a message to Matriarch Kaleera with the file attached.

They ate at the chinese restaurant. Jia hugged Huiqing and sent her back into the kitchen. Jia brought out the family style dinner, but with separate dishes for Garrus.

After dinner, the car dropped Cassidy and Garrus at the Citadel Tower. Cassidy got a message directiing them to a chamber off of the main audience chamber. When they got there, they found all four Councilors. Everybody took seats. Carter said, "Congratulations, Admiral Shepard Victus." Cassidy said, "Thank you, Councilor Carter." Tevos said, "The relay you have been asked to open is not in Citadel space, but the Leviathans have shown that they can operate wherever they will. So, we are sending you primarily as a diplomat. As you know, we normally do not like to involve ourselves in the specifics of Spectre activities. You will still have the freedom to do whatever you deem necessary, but we would like frequent contact." Carter said, "Use the QEC to the Philippines at least once every day."

Cassidy and Garrus stood up and were dismissed. They left the room. Cassidy sighed. Garrus said, "What's on you mind?" "Diplomacy. Just when I'm coming off recovery and the only things I get to shoot are in laser tag. I suppose it's logical, given the alliances I got going in the war, but then it was like, 'Ally or Annihilation'. Hell of a big stick." Garrus said, "Hmm, sounds like we need to spar." Cassidy said, "It's a date, just as soon as we get settled on the Normandy." They took the elevator to the docks. Dizzy took them back to the Philippines.

Cassidy, Garrus, Wendy and Hannah walked Melanie back to the Grissom area. Melanie hugged and kissed everybody. Mike came out, "I got your message, Mel." Cassidy said, "We're heading to the Normandy tonight. If you'd like to say goodbye to Wendy, now's the time." Mike went to Wendy and hugged her. He said, "Have fun, squirt." Melanie said, "Good luck with your mission, Mom, Dad. I'll miss you!" She and Mike went into the school.

Cassidy said, "Let's go collect our stuff." They went to the suite and Cassidy helped Wendy get her bag packed. Garrus was quick with his. Then Cassidy did hers, sending the old fatigues into the recycler and packing away the new fatigues and casuals. They had their bags by the door and Cassidy did a final sweep. She took her pot of violets and Wendy got hers. They went out and got on the golf cart, which took them back to the flight deck.

Dizzy dropped them off in the cargo bay. EDI was there and she picked up Wendy's bag and carried it. Cassidy said, "Wendy, this is EDI." EDI said, "Nice to meet you, Wendy. Admiral, the geth are working on the interior details of the daycare and have gotten started on the renovations for the family suites on Deck 6." Cassidy said, "Since you are here, I take it that Joker is on board as well?" EDI said, "That's correct, Admiral. Liara and Diana are on board also." They got up to their cabin and EDI took Wendy's bag into her room. EDI said, "Comm request for you Admiral, from Lieutenant Hartrus."

EDI left and Garrus took Wendy into her room and started showing her around. Cassidy went to her desk and accepted the comm request. "Shepard Victus." "Admiral, permission to board the Normandy with Maklin? I'd like to get him in bed there soon." "Permission granted, Lieutenant." Cassidy went and unpacked. Cassidy heard Wendy squeal "Kitty!" Garrus said, "Wendy, this is Callista."

Her comm light came on again. She saw it was from Clowder. "Shepard Victus." "Admiral, a geth frigate has arrived with Ensign Soth'Falin." She said, "Garrus, would you go welcome him and show him around. I'll get Wendy ready for bed." "On my way."

Wendy said, "Mommy, those are pretty. What are they?" Cassidy followed Wendy's finger pointing at the fish tank. "Do you mean the fish?" "Fish come in kinds? Like people come in kinds?" Cassidy asked, "What kinds of people do you mean?" "Sa-larryns, sorrys, tureens" Cassidy said, "Yes, fish come in different kinds. Tomorrow you can ask Zoe to help you learn about kinds of fish."

Cassidy got Wendy into bed and kissed her goodnight. Callista jumped up and laid down next to Wendy. Wendy giggled and said, "Callista is sleeping with Jenny and me!" Garrus came back in. Wendy said, "Daddy kiss goodnight!" Cassidy traded with Garrus and went in and sat on the couch. Garrus came back and sat on the couch with her. Cassidy asked, "Soth settled enough?" Garrus said, "EDI is with him to answer any lingering questions."

Garrus leaned over and kissed Cassidy in a most passionate way. He pulled her shirt up and put his hand on her bare waist. Cassidy came came up for air and said, "Wendy might hear . . ." Garrus pulled up his omni-tool and said, "Close the curtain." A panel next to the fish tank opened and a heavy curtain was pulled across the walkway. Garrus said, "This way she can get to the bathroom, but we have some privacy." He leaned in and started kissing her again. Their lovemaking was quietly passionate.

Cassidy woke to her alarm about an hour before departure time. She showered and went down to the engineering deck. Clowder was there. Cassidy asked, "Are the renovations complete, Clowder?" Clowder answered, "Yes, Admiral. I you would like I will show the finished products to you." Clowder took her through the daycare, with its own bathroom, mini galley, bins of toys, mats, terminals, and more. Clowder said, "Admiral, we have made the daycare capable of operating independently of ship systems if necessary. In extreme emergency it can be detached from the ship and act as escape vessel by launching it out of the cargo bay. EDI also has backup databases and processors all around us inside the hull of the daycare." Cassidy said, "Impressive, thank you."

Clowder took her to Deck 6 and showed her the family units. She said, "Nice work. I know Ken and Gabby will appreciate the geth attention to detail and solid workmanship." Clowder said, "You are most welcome to our best efforts, Admiral." Cassidy said, "We are going to have a krogan in one of these rooms. Would you make sure his bed is sturdy enough for 400 kilos, please?" "Consulting with EDI on room assignment. Room 9. I will reinforce the bed's structure." "Thanks, Clowder. Get Lt Hartrus to help you if you need an extra pair of hands."

She said, "Joker, let's go dock with the Philippines." "Settling into my seat now, Admiral."

Cassidy went up to the airlock and waited for the gangway to seal and the doors to open. Cassidy saw that Ken and Gabby were first in line, then Greg, Dr Chakwas, Lt Norquist, Thane, Javik, Solana, Samantha, Samesh, Rafa, Petty Officer Schwartz, Zoe, the navigators, Jackson, Usyk, and the rest of the marines. Cassidy stepped out onto the Philippines to hug Hannah goodbye. Cassidy saluted Admiral Hackett and returned to the Normandy. "EDI, are Cortez and Phelps aboard with the shuttles?" "Yes, Admiral. All crew present and accounted for."

"Joker, Tuchanka please." "Home of Kalros, the mother of all thresher maws, coming up, Admiral. ETA three hours." Cassidy stood behind Joker, not really looking out the windows, appreciating being back on her ship. Joker said, "Good to have you back, Admiral." Cassidy said, "Good to be here."

Cassidy went down to Deck 6 to check on Ken and Gabby. She found them unpacking in the starboard family suite. "What do you think?" Ken said, "Right brilliant, Admiral. Its echoes your arrangement top side. We can pull the curtain across for parental intimacy." Gabby said, "Very serviceable, Admiral, thank you."

Cassidy left and started walking down the passageway. She saw Samantha come out of one of the rooms, with shower supplies in her hands. Samantha saw the question on Cassidy's face. "Diana and I aren't together anymore, Admiral. We're friendly, though. It won't be a problem."

Cassidy went to the galley and found Samesh, Rafa and Schwartz busy getting breakfast ready. Samesh said, "Trays in your room for you and Dr T'Soni as usual, Admiral?" "Yes, thank you, Samesh." "About 15 minutes."

Cassidy went up to the cabin. Garrus was dressing, Wendy still asleep. Garrus asked, "Do you want me to take Wendy down for breakfast, then take her to daycare?" Cassidy said, "Yes, then Liara and I can have our usual breakfast up here." Cassidy went and woke Wendy and got her ready. Garrus took Wendy down to the mess hall.

Garrus and Wendy joined Solana, Hartrus and Maklin. Garrus asked, "What's first on your list of things to do, Hartrus?" Hartrus answered, "Clowder and I reinforced a bed for a krogan, sir. After this, I will begin cleaning on Deck 3." Solana asked, "Is that where are we heading now?" Garrus said, "Yes, Tuchanka. Cassidy says Wrex has a krogan for us." Hartus asked, "Urdnot Wrex, that allied with Palaven?" Garrus said, "Yes, friend of ours, from the hunt for Saren." Hartus asked, "Is the Admiral coming down?" Solana said, "Cassidy has breakfast with Liara T'Soni every morning. Liara works as an information broker now, so they discuss the latest intel."

Callista walked out from the elevator and over the table. She jumped to the table top. Wendy said, "Hi Callista!" Hartrus asked, "What's that?" Solana said, "It's called a cat. It's an Earth pet." Garrus said, "Cassidy calls it the 'ship's cat', apparently referencing some ancient earth navy tradition. She likes to rub on people and makes a comforting rumbling noise." Callista sat on the table and extended the claws on a front paw and bit between them. Maklin said, "She has sharp claws! Sharp fangs, too!" Wendy said, "Cats eat mice." Garrus said, "They hunt vermin."

Callista went over to Maklin and put a paw carefully on his shoulder. She leaned in and sniffed at his face, then backed off and sneezed. She went over to Wendy and put a paw on her shoulder, leaned in and licked at her hairline near her temple. Wendy giggled. Maklin watched, fascinated. Callista jumped down and went back to the elevator. Hartrus said, "Maklin, eat. The cat is gone."

Zoe came over, "Shall I take the kids with me straight up?" Garrus said, "Fine with me." Wendy got down and took Zoe's hand. Wendy said, "We're going to learn about fish." Hartrus said, "Maklin, you will obey Lt McAnally." Maklin said, "Yes, sir." Maklin got down and took the hand Zoe extended toward him. Zoe led the kids off to daycare. The rest got up to clean up and get to work.


	82. Chapter 82

Chapter 82

Tuchanka: Cassidy walked with Garrus and Liara into the Urdnot camp. Wrex said, "My friends! I'm surprised they left you on the Normandy, Cassidy. Admiral, 2 kids, diplomatic experience." Cassidy said, "Yea, politics, they can't agree on anyone else to command the Normandy. Not that I mind, I'm not ready for a desk yet." Wrex said, "Let's get in the truck. Bakara wants to see you."

They arrived at the female camp. Bakara came over with a bundle in her arms. She passed the bundle to Cassidy and said, "Our son, Mord." Cassidy said, "He's a hefty boy." Wrex said, "Growing strong, that's my boy." Cassidy passed Mord back to Bakara.

Bakara said, "I have seen the news, Cassidy. Your daughters are lovely." Cassidy said, "Thank you. When I'm not heading out on a mission, I'll bring Wendy down to see you." Wrex asked, "Where are you off to, Cassidy?" Cassidy said, "Leviathans." Wrex said, "That's not good. You'll come back and tell me how it goes, won't you? Don't make me wait for what the Council thinks I should know." Cassidy said, "I'll keep you in the loop, Wrex."

Wrex said, "Speaking of the Council, we've got one that thinks he wants to be a diplomat, if you can believe it. He hasn't met any more than a couple humans, so I figure you can expand his horizons. Don't worry, he can fight, he is a krogan, just finished his Rite of Passage, after all." Cassidy said, "Where is he?" Wrex said, "You can collect him back at the camp on your way out."

Cassidy said, "Bakara, good to see you well, and your son. May I take a pic? Wrex, get over with her, there, got it. Bakara, I will be back." Bakara said, "Until we meet again then, Cassidy. Advisor Vakarian. Dr T'Soni." They got back in the truck and went back to Urdnot.

Wrex said to one of his guards, "Go get Tork" The guard came back with another krogan. Wrex said, "Admiral Shepard Victus, this is Urdnot Tork. Tork, the Admiral is your battlemaster." Tork said to Cassidy, "Admiral, I will be part of your krantt if you will have me." Cassidy said, "Your loyalty is welcome, Tork. Wrex, I'll be back." Wrex said, "Garrus, don't forget how to hold your gun now you've got daughters to protect. Liara, a pleasure, as always. Cassidy, I had a few crates of food for Tork put up by your shuttle. Tork can load them."

They went back to the Normandy. Cassidy said, "Joker, Omega please." Joker said, "Station of the one rule, punched in, Admiral. ETA 1.5 hours." Cassidy took Tork and introduced him around, starting with Samesh when Tork brought one of his crates up.

Cassidy put on her new armor with the Pack's programming synched to the visor and her geth plasma SMG and her Incisor sniper rifle. Garrus said, "You look like a world of care came off your shoulders." Cassidy said, "Even if I don't get to shoot anything, being prepped for it helps." She took Garrus and Jackson in with her.

Aria welcomed her, "Admiral now, Cassidy? Can you feel the red tape hemming you in yet?" She offered them all sushi, pointed out the red boxes for Garrus. Cassidy ate appreciatively. Cassidy said, "Good stuff." Aria said, "I sent out a search party for this chef to get him out of the Reapers' way. He has been grateful, plus I pay him well." Aria had one of her asari pass around the pastries. Cassidy took a warm sweet beignet covered in powdered sugar.

Cassidy said, "I take it that you would like to me to keep your interests in mind in my upcoming encounter?" Aria said, "Frankly, yes. If a deal can be worked to reinforce my position here or to have a deal under my control, then my interests will be served." Cassidy said, "That's the rub, isn't it? Control. We'll have to see how much control they will let us exercise." Aria said, "Just remember that their first relay hop will be here." Cassidy said, "I will keep that in mind."

A batarian ran up and handed Aria a data pad. Aria read it and said, "Damn it." The batarian said, "They took out power to the whole block to get to them. Went through the door manually. Benrus and Varina took out eight of them, but we didn't get there in time."

Aria turned to look speculatively at Cassidy. "You want a turian son, Cassidy?" Garrus' head snapped to bring Aria into focus, "What do you mean?" Aria said, "Two of my agents are dead by some new merc group wanting to undermine me. Benrus and Varina had an infant son that was seen in the arms of one of the bastards fleeing the scene. You can rescue the boy, save him from being sold on the black market and deal out my consequences for me, for which I'd owe you a favor. Interested?"

Cassidy looked at Garrus. Garrus said, "Where?" Aria said, "Go with Herval there, he'll take you to the dock they're working out of. By now, they've probably got the kid in a live animal crate." Cassidy, Garrus and Jackson followed Herval to a car. He took them to an industrial section and parked. He said, "The warehouse is through that door and the second hallway on your left."

They went to the door. Cassidy said, "No grenades, we don't want to destroy any crates." Jackson said, "Understood, Admiral." Garrus said, "I've got your back."

Garrus sniped a lookout and they went in. The first hallway looked empty. They covered the entry to the second hallway. Cassidy scoped the hallway and warped one guard while Garrus took the head off the other. They went down the hallway and covered the door. The door opened and they saw the warehouse. Cassidy saw a forklift driving in. She signaled Garrus and Jackson to take flanking positions and she went in.

She pulled the driver of the forklift out and Jackson took him out. An alarm sounded and guards started running in. Cassidy got into her rhythm, pulling, sniping, warping. They brought in a gunship and she hoped they didn't hit the baby, wherever he was. She sent warp after warp on the gunship and finally Garrus got a shot through the weakened armor and took out the pilot. The gunship spun out of sight.

There were either no remaining guards or they were fleeing. Cassidy turned on her IR and she took the left side and Garrus took the right. Jackson called, "Up here." He was at the top of a ladder. Cassidy went up after him and into a control room. She heard the animals in the room beyond. She said, "Garrus can you tell the difference from out here between the heartrates of the animals and the baby?" Garrus looked, "No, we're going to have to check by hand."

Cassidy said, "Are there any labels, can we tell what these things are?" Garrus said, "Not that I can see. I think they're a food animal, seed stock, to establish farming populations." Cassidy said, "No help for it than to cut a hole to look?" Jackson said, "Just a minute, here." He pulled out a big serrated knife, and cut out a chunk of the lid of one of the crates. Cassidy turned on the flashlight on her rifle and shone it into the crate. She said, "Looks kind of like a boar, but not. Its got the bristly kind of fur and the tusks, but the shape of the head isn't quite right." Garrus said, "Let me see." He turned his light on and looked. "Its a Palavenian animal. Quite good eating. But dangerous when loose."

The cut into all the crates and found every crate full. Cassidy said, "What if they put him in under one of these animals?" Garrus said, "I'll look for double heartbeats. Wait a minute, over here. There's a female with young. They might have him in there. She's going to be particularly fierce if she gets out." Cassidy said, "Garrus get behind and open the crate, she can run at me directly in front of her. I'll put her in stasis once she's free of the crate, then you search the crate. Jackson, you watch the door."

They got in their positions and Cassidy said "3, 2, 1, open!" The mother 'boar' ran straight for Cassidy. Cassidy got the stasis on her just a few feet away. The piglets were running out of the crate squealing. Garrus said, "There's a section divider . . . pull that off . . . and there he is!" Garrus stood up with a naked turian infant in his hands. Cassidy said, "I think one of the piglets just got by you there, Jackson."

Garrus put the boy on top of one of the crates and started putting the crate back together. Cassidy concentrated on the stasis, "Hurry up. I can't hold this forever." Garrus said, "Jackson let's grab the young and get them back in the crate." Jackson herded the one that had got past him back into the room. It took a couple minutes, but they finally cornered the last one and picked it up. Cassidy said, "Any suggestions on getting her back in?" Garrus said, "I'll tie her legs and muzzle, then you let the stasis go. We'll lift her into the crate, then I'll loosen the rope from outside and pull the rope out." Cassidy said, "Get to it then."

In the end, the mother tried to get Garrus with a tusk but his armor deflected it. Cassidy went and picked up the boy. She said, "Let's look for a backpack or something, so I can carry him and use my weapons if I need to." Garrus went to the control terminal and found the shipping manifests. He said, "There are medical packs for field medics. We could empty one of those." Cassidy said, "And something like clothing, made of absorptive material." Garrus said, "Will bath towels do?" Cassidy said, "Perfect."

They searched and found the correct crates. Jackson opened the first and took out one of the bigger backpacks. He dumped the contents out. Cassidy put the baby in Garrus' arms then took her sniper rifle and laid it on a crate. She took the backpack and strapped it securely to her back. While she was doing that, Jackson opened the second one. He pulled out a bundle of towels, cut the binding and brought them over. Cassidy took a couple of the towels and had Jackson line the bottom of the backpack. She kept a lookout for returning mercenaries. She had Jackson get another bundle of towels and strap them and the remaining towels under the backpack.

Garrus put the baby inside and zipped it most of the way. Cassidy picked up her rifle. She gestured Jackson to go first ahead of her and Garrus came up behind. They carefully made their way out. Jackson reported seeing one lookout fade back out of sight. There was no sign of anyone when they made it out the door and back to the car.

Herval got them in, saying "I managed to break in on their signal. Once you took out the gunship, their leader said to cut their losses and let you guys take whatever and let you leave. They're in there now taking an accounting." Cassidy said, "Take us to the apartment, where Aria's agents were killed." Garrus said, "Why?" Cassidy said, "Two reasons. First, they'll have baby supplies we can use, and second there might be something with his name on it." She got the backpack off her back and into her lap. She looked inside and the infant was still asleep. Garrus looked in and said, "His heartbeat is nice and steady, his breathing is even. He's fine." Garrus leaned in and nuzzled her hair.

They arrived at the apartment and Herval said, "Its Aria's people all around us." Cassidy got out with the backpack and slung it back onto her back. She reached down and got her rifle. They went into the apartment. Cassidy checked the two turians for omni-tools, but those were gone. Cassidy went inside and found a case of diapers, a case of baby food, ointment, a bassinet, and turian baby clothes.

She took the baby out and figured out how to get a diaper on him. She dressed him in one of the tube like outfits with snaps at the bottom. The towels lining the bottom of the back pack were still clean, so she put him back in on top of them. She had Garrus and Jackson pile all the baby stuff into the car. She didn't find anything about a name for the baby. They all squeezed back in and Cassidy got Aria on the comm.

"Herval says you got the boy, Cassidy." "Would you send me everything you have on the parents? Do you know what they named him?" "I'm forwarding my dossiers. I think they had not yet named him. He's less than a week old. How many did you take out getting to him?" Cassidy looked at Garrus, who said, "32, plus the gunship and its pilot." Aria said, "Excellent. That's a significant portion of their forces and Herval had time to crack their comms while you were getting in. Like I said, I owe you. I'll think on how to return the favor while you're gone."

Herval dropped them down at the shuttle bay where their marines were guarding Steve and the shuttle. There were a few crates of dextro provisions already inside. They started packing the baby stuff in as well. Steve's eyebrows went up when he saw the bassinet, "Something I should know, Cassidy?" Cassidy said, "There's a turian baby boy in my backpack. We rescued him from going on the black market." Garrus said, "We haven't discussed names yet." Steve said, "OK then, let's get you and your latest young one back to the ship."

On the shuttle, Cassidy said, "EDI?" "Yes, Admiral?" "Please download as much credible turian infant care information as you can, forward the medical stuff to Dr Chakwas, the practical stuff to me." "Very well, Admiral. Does this mean you are returning with a turian infant?" "A baby boy, as yet unnamed." "Downloading, Admiral."

Cassidy pulled up the dossiers of the baby's parents:

"Varina Karvien, 21, technician. Born on Aephus. Answered recruiting ad on Omega after parents killed in Cerberus attack on Aephus. Parents: Pakren Karvien, farmer, and Malera Kuril, hydraulics engineer. Mate: Benrus Vyrik. Gave birth to son. No listed living siblings."

"Benrus Vyrik, 22, weapons specialist. Born on Altakiril. Answered recruiting ad on Omega after Battle for Earth. Ship destroyed, used escape pod, rescued by Alliance, transported to Palaven, learned of parents' deaths in Battle for Earth. Parents: Talren Vyrik, munitions specialist, and Alapra Corvix, navigator. No listed living siblings."

Cassidy closed her omni-tool, and closed her eyes, holding back tears for the enormous losses of life to the Reapers, four more of which were no longer faceless statistics. Garrus said, "You okay?" Cassidy just reached over and held his hand.

When they got back to the Normandy, Cassidy asked Jackson and his marines and Steve to say nothing to the rest of the crew until she and Garrus made an announcement. She got out, pulling the backpack around to her back again. She tasked the marines with getting all the baby stuff up to their cabin.

When she and Garrus were alone on the cargo bay, she asked, "What does your society do with a foundling, like this?" Garrus said, "Well, typically the child is taken in by the nearest set of family. For example, if you and I were gone, then the children would go to Solana, if she was gone too, then Rahana, then it would be between Hannah, my father and Adrien." Cassidy said, "So, we need to see if Benrus or Varina have any living siblings or first cousins."

Garrus thought a moment. He said, "Yes, you're right. We have to make that effort." Cassidy said, "So, for the moment, we are caring for a foundling until we find his family. He'll remain nameless until we hand him over or determine that he has no family and we take him as ours." Garrus' flanges tightened a bit. He nodded. She pulled her omni-tool and sent the dossiers to EDI. "EDI, how long would it take for you to search for adult family members of these two, limiting to adult siblings and first cousins." EDI said, "A primary search of census records could be up to a couple hours depending on the size of the families, Admiral." Cassidy said, "Joker, jump us to out of the vicinity of Omega. Go black, but for EDI's tightbeam. Let me know if any ships come to take a look."

Cassidy went to the med bay, Garrus following. Dr Chakwas was there with Norquist. She said, "Here for a checkup on the infant, Cassidy? I must confess I can't do much more than the basics, not until I've had a chance to study the information EDI is sending me." Cassidy said, "Basics are fine, Karin." She let Garrus pull the backpack off her shoulders and lay it gently on the exam table. Garrus lifted him out and laid him on the table. The baby opened his eyes and gave a kind of squawky protest.

Dr Chakwas came around and started the scan. She asked, "What's his name?" Cassidy said, "For the moment, 'baby boy Vyrik' . EDI's doing a search to see if there any relatives out there." Chakwas checked the baby's eyes, nose, mouth, and skin. He started squawking more insistently and finally erupted into full out screaming. Cassidy said, "I better go see if he's hungry." She gathered him up and went up to the cabin with Garrus.

She laid the squalling baby on the bed and went to find the crate of baby food. She opened the flap and pulled out one of the tall cylinders. She saw a thin plastic flat stick attached to the side. She pulled that off. and then popped the top. Inside was a meaty sort of paste. Garrus came and took the cylinder and stick, "I'll feed him while you get your armor off."

He put the baby food on the coffee table then went and picked up the baby. He wedged the baby into an upright position with pillows. He scooped paste out of the cylinder and and scraped it off onto the inside of the baby's toothless lower jaw. The screaming stopped as the baby worked on eating. Garrus fed him the entire cylinder.

Cassidy said, "You seem comfortable with him. Most human men get panicky and seemingly entirely uncoordinated once an infant is in their hands, at least that's the common wisdom." Garrus said, "I was old enough to help with Patrus when he came along, so I do have a little experience." Cassidy said, "He seems to hold his head up fine." Garrus asked, "Why wouldn't he?" Cassidy said, "Human babies come out with their neck muscles weak enough that we have to make sure to support the head until the neck muscles get strong enough. It takes about 6 months for them to get strong and steady head control."

Cassidy said, "I'm going to call down for a shake, you want anything?" "No thanks, I wasn't flinging biotics around." Cassidy called, "Samesh?" "What can we do for you, Admiral?" "What flavors of shakes are available?" "Chocolate, strawberry, banana, raspberry, mint, mango, pineapple, orange and combinations of those." Cassidy said, "Banana pineapple please." "It will be up shortly, Admiral."

Garrus said, "Where are we going to change him?" Cassidy considered, "For now, I guess we'll have to use the sink area." Garrus picked the baby up, went and got a diaper and a container of wipes out of the diaper crate. He took them all into the bathroom. Cassidy cleaned up the coffee table.

She went and emptied the baby clothes out of the bassinet and considered what to do with it. She looked more closely at the structure and found a lever. She pulled it in the direction indicated and support legs came out. She pulled the brace bar over and locked the legs in place. She moved the bassinet to the end of the bed. Then she found a drawer and put the baby clothes in there.

The door chimed and Cassidy went up and accepted the shake from Schwartz. Cassidy said, "How are you settling in so far, Schwartz?" "The job is a bit more a little bit of everything. Its more interesting this way, I think, Admiral. Are we going to continue martial arts class, Admiral?" Cassidy said, "Yes, tomorrow morning. Don't wear the whites, just fatigues and bare feet. Your belt goes over the fatigues." Schwartz said, "Aye, aye ma'am. Thank you, ma'am." Schwartz turned back to the elevator.

Cassidy looked down and saw Garrus had the baby propped again on the couch and was next to him, checking messages.

EDI's voice, "Admiral, Advisor. I have completed my search. There is one cousin of Varina's that was last reported on a turian colony to which we have not opened the relay. Reaper forces were known to be harvesting on that colony before the Battle for Earth. There is a possibility that she may yet survive." Cassidy said, "Thank you, EDI. Joker, begin our jump to the Sigurd's Cradle system." "Jumping now, Admiral."

Garrus said, "We're running close to the family ceremony in time." Cassidy said, "I know." She went down and got close to Garrus. He put his arm around her. She pulled up the infant care files and they read them and discussed them.


	83. Chapter 83

Chapter 83

Dinner time came. Garrus carried the baby, who was asleep again and followed Cassidy to go pick up Wendy. Wendy came out and said, "I learned about goldfish." She handed Cassidy a drawing. "I drew a goldfish. Maklin drew a swordfish. I wrote 'goldfish'. I wrote other words, like 'tank', 'water', 'gills', and 'fins'." She looked up at Garrus and stopped. "Daddy, why do you have a baby?" Garrus said, "Mommy and I are taking care of the baby." "Will you adopt the baby? Like me?" Garrus said, "We don't know yet. We have to search to see if he has any family left." "So, its a boy?" Cassidy said, "Yes, honey, the baby's a boy." Wendy said, "What's his name?" Garrus said, "He doesn't have a name yet." Wendy said, "Oh."

Zoe came out. She said, "Oh, he's adorable. EDI sent me the practical care files, Admiral. So if you want to leave him here with me tomorrow, that's fine."

They went to dinner. The room was packed. Cassidy called out, "Listen up!" The room went silent. Cassidy said, "We are carrying a turian refugee. He is less than a week old. He is unnamed, until we determine if he has remaining family. That cannot occur until we finish this mission then open another relay to a turian colony. Until then, he is 'baby boy Vyrik'. For those of you who are new, we will be in FTL for the next 6 days. When you are off duty, you are free to play ping pong, volleyball, laser tag, poker, bridge, cribbage, backgammon, and other games that are available. For those that are interested, I will be instructing martial arts at a yellow belt level at 0900 in the mornings. Fatigues and bare feet are the uniform in that class. As you were."

Solana came over and looked at the baby. "Oh, he's so little!" Cassidy and Wendy went to get their dinners. Solana went and got a tray for Garrus. Cassidy surveyed the room as she was sitting down. Soth was eating with Ken and Gabby and Greg. Tork was with Javik and Jackson and a couple other marines. Thane was sitting with Liara, Dr Chakwas and Norquist. Samantha was sitting with Joker and Steve and Dizzy.

Maklin looked at the baby, "Father, why is the baby here?" Hartrus said, "I was not there on Omega. You should address your question to someone with firsthand knowledge, someone who was there." Maklin turned to Garrus, "Advisor, sir, why is the baby here?" Garrus said, "We stopped some bad men from taking him away. The bad men killed his mother and father. There was no family to take care of him on Omega." Cassidy heard Jackson describing the animal crates ". . . the piglets ran everywhere, 'WEEEEE, WEEEE, WEEEE' . . . "

After dinner, Cassidy got Liara, Samantha and Thane to play bridge. Wendy sat in her lap and talked about flowers and fish. Garrus went down to the cargo bay with the baby. Solana offered to take him if Garrus wanted to play volleyball. Garrus handed the baby over. Maklin went with Joker to keep score. Hartrus and Ken joined the game. Gabby came up and sat next to Solana.

Petty Officer Irene Schwartz and Staff Sargeant Ihor Usyk were in her quarters. He had her on his lap, one hand up her shirt and in her bra, the other undoing her buckle on her pants. She said, "Ihor, I said I needed to talk to you." "I need you, first, Reenie." He got her pants loose and pushed them with her underwear down below her hip. He unzipped and pulled his cock out. He pushed himself up into her. He got her to get on hands and knees on the floor and he pumped from behind. She waited until he was done, getting no enjoyment out of the encounter.

He laid down on her bed, his cock still out. He said, "Come, we'll go again." Irene put her clothes back in order and said, "No, you don't listen to me. I have mentioned this to you time and again, but nothing changes. I've had enough. Just get up and go." He looked confused, "What? OK, OK, I'll hear you. Say what you want to say." Irene said, "No, I want time to myself right now. We can try to talk later, tomorrow. Just go." He stood up, put his cock away, and zipped up. "You're just angry. Say it. SAY IT!" She saw his face darken and his eyes harden. He pushed her and she tripped and fell backward, her head cracking on the corner of the chest of drawers. He walked out.

Cassidy was about to set Liara's 4 spades bid. EDI's voice, "Admiral, Petty Officer Irene Schwartz suffered a head injury in her quarters. Dr Chakwas has been informed. Marine Staff Sargeant Ihor Usyk left the room immediately after the injury occurred." Cassidy got up. Liara said, "Wendy can stay with us, Cassidy." Cassidy walked out. On her way to the elevator she said, "Lieutenant Jackson." "Yes, Admiral" "Find and detain Staff Sargent Usyk. He is to be confined to the port side suite on Deck 6. I will meet you there after I check in med bay."

Cassidy walked into med bay to a scene of controlled chaos. Dr Chakwas was working on the back of Schwartz' head and Norquist was keeping her body in position. The carry frame was pushed to one side. Cassidy grabbed the frame, collapsed it and put it in a corner out of the way. A tone went from pulsing to constant. Chakwas said, "Get the leads on her chest. Cassidy! Come hold her in position." Cassidy came and put her hands under Norquist's and he lifted his off. Cassidy held her in place while Dr Chakwas watched a monitor.

Norquist pulled Schwarz' shirt up and put leads on her chest. He said, "EDI, 3, 2, 1, go!" Schwartz' body jumped as the electrical charge went through her heart. "Again, 3, 2, 1, go!" The tone started beeping again but another one went solid. Chakwas said, "We have to intubate her. Cassidy, keep holding her where she is." A third tone went solid. Chakwas' body drooped. She said, "Let me get the drain in and close up. Finish the intubation, Emory. Cassidy, keep her in place."

Cassidy asked, "What's going on?" Chakwas said, "Her brain signals stopped. We are putting in breathing support to keep her alive while I do a complete exam to determine whether we can bring her back." Cassidy said, "EDI, did Miranda give you the files from the Lazarus Project?" "Yes, Admiral. That is why Dr Chakwas needs to do a more thorough exam, to determine if the method used to bring your brain signals back will work on Petty Officer Schwartz."

Dr Chakwas said, "Okay, we are going to roll her gently onto her back. 3, 2, 1, roll." Cassidy stepped back. "How long will your examination take?" "About 20 minutes." Cassidy said, "I'll be back." Cassidy went down to Deck 6 to the suite. Two of the marines were stationed outside the door. They snapped to a salute when she came up. She went in and heard Usyk, "It was a goddamned accident! She tripped!" Jackson, "You left her and said nothing to anyone!" Usyk saw Cassidy and snapped to a salute. Jackson turned her and saluted also, "Admiral." Cassidy saluted and said, "Staff Sergeant, how Petty Officer Schwartz ended up with a cracked skull will be a matter to be determined through official investigation. However, the fact that you left her there without informing anyone, including EDI, makes you unwelcome on my ship. The mission demands that we continue as we are, so until we return to the Sol System, you are confined to this room. Your only visitors will be Lt Jackson, myself or Dr Chakwas. Is that understood?" Jackson said, "Aye, aye, ma'am." Usyk's face screwed up in rage, "You goddamned fucking bitches!" and he swung a punch at Cassidy.

Cassidy ducked the punch, grabbed Usyk and threw him over her hip to the floor. Cassidy let her biotics build a blue glow at her hand. Usyk went very still. She said, "That's another to add to the charges at your court martial, Staff Sargeant. Lieutenant, if Dr Chawkas is required, you will not allow her to come in alone under any circumstances, for her protection." "Aye, aye, ma'am." "Petty Officer Schwartz will be unable to report for duty for the foreseeable future. You will set up a rotating schedule for your team to cover her duties. The marine on said duty will report to Mr Bhatia in the galley." "Aye, aye, ma'am."

Cassidy walked out, letting the biotic energy go, but feeling the backlash headache coming on. Jackson followed her. Jackson said, "Ma'am, it is on me that he got this far. I allowed some sexual harassment on his part to go unchecked on the Philippines. I should have said something to you, Admiral, when you asked me about the team." Cassidy said, "I see. I also should have given the matter more due diligence. Live and learn, Lieutenant." "Yes, ma'am."

Cassidy went back to the med bay. Dr Chakwas was entering information to a report, Norquist was cleaning. Cassidy asked, "What have you determined, Karin?" "She is pregnant for one thing. The baby is producing anti-rejection chemicals to keep her body from attacking it. The baby is about 8 weeks along, so she was probably just noticing the characteristic signs of pregnancy. The Lazarus treatment will not work in the presence of the anti-rejection chemicals. However, I think we may be able to filter the blood entering her brain, taking out the unwanted materials and adding the jumpstarting ones."

Karin continued, "I am going to let EDI and Clowder prepare the filtration unit. When they are ready, I will do the surgery to divert the blood flow. Clowder estimated the build time to be two hours, because some of the parts will need to be fabricated." Cassidy said, "Let's go to the mess hall." Karin said, "Emory, keep an eye on her, let me know if anything changes." Norquist said, "I will, doctor." Karin took a long look at Cassidy's face and went to a bin and grabbed a packet. She put the packet in Cassidy's hand and they went to the mess hall.

Samesh came out to their table. "Can I get you anything, Admiral, Doctor?" Cassidy said, "First of all, Irene is in med bay. She won't be reporting for duty for awhile. You will have marines in her place. Let Lt Jackson know when you want them to report. I'll take a hot chocolate and you, Karin?" "Your special vanilla caffeine drink, please, Samesh." "Coming right up."

Garrus' voice on her omni-tool, "Solana and I are putting Wendy and the baby to bed." Cassidy said, "Thank you. I'll be up in a bit."

Samesh brought out their drinks. "I have communicated with Lt Jackson, Admiral." "That's good, Samesh. Thank you." Samesh left. Cassidy drank some of her hot chocolate, took the pills out of the packet and knocked them back, then drank some more. Karin asked, "What happened to Usyk?" Cassidy answered, "I have confined him to the portside suite for the duration. When we get back to Earth, he can go to his court martial." "So, the fall was deliberate?" "I don't know, but he left her and said nothing, not even to EDI. Then he tried to punch me." Karin said, "Hmm, he'll be discharged one way or another."

EDI walked in, "May I join you?" Cassidy said, "Please do. Have a seat." EDI sat, "Doctor, the filtration unit is going well. We will have it working in the time Clowder estimated. Lt Adams is working with Clowder." Karin said, "Thank you, EDI" EDI continued, "Admiral, all Alliance VIs and AIs listen for mentions of their trigger. This listening is buffered for a one minute duration. When something is heard, like thumps followed by silence, then that buffer is preserved. I have preserved the minute prior to Petty Officer Schwartz' injury. Do you wish to hear?"

Cassidy considered. "No, EDI. Whatever was said will not change how Usyk gets treated here on the ship. Preserve it for the military court as evidence. If I listen to it before I'm called to testify, it might hand the defense a tool to get him off the hook." "Aye, aye, ma'am." Cassidy asked, "EDI, why all the formality again?" "Jeff suggested it. He said that with all the new crew, and your new rank, I should be an example in showing you respect." Cassidy said, "Well, you're not the only one, EDI. I understand and Joker's right. Besides, 'Admiral' will be easier to say than 'Shepard Victus Vakarian'." Karin laughed, "3 syllables versus 8."

Cassidy finished her hot chocolate, feeling her headache recede. "I'm going upstairs. I'll still be up when you're doing the filtration, let me know how it goes, as soon as you're done." Karin said, "I will, Cassidy. Kiss that baby for me." Cassidy took her mug to the return rack then went up to the cabin.

Cassidy went in and kissed Wendy goodnight. Wendy said, "Is the hurt lady OK?" Cassidy said, "Dr Chakwas is going to work on her tonight, we will know in the morning." Wendy said, "OK, Mommy. Goodnight. I love you, Mommy." Callista was laying next to Wendy, purring. Cassidy reached over and scratched Callista behind the ears.

She went in and around the curtain. Garrus and Solana were on the couch, talking. Garrus asked, "Wendy said something about an emergency, somebody got hurt?" Cassidy said, "Petty Officer Irene Schwartz is in med bay in critical condition. Staff Sargeant Ihor Usyk is confined to the portside suite until we get back to Earth, when he'll be court martialled. Jackson will rotate the marines to cover Schwartz' duty."

Solana said, "Do you not hold the commander responsible then?" Cassidy said, "We go more for individual responsibility, however military commanders do have duties toward their subordinates. Lt Jackson is searching his conscience this evening, as am I." Solana said, "Different culture, then. The baby is sweet, Cassidy. I fed and changed him not too long ago. He should sleep for a few hours. Goodnight, Cassidy. Garrus." Solana got up and left.

Garrus said, "OK, so how is Schwartz, really?" Cassidy said, "No brain signal, on respiratory support, 8 weeks pregnant." Garrus asked, "Is there hope for recovery?" Cassidy answered, "Karin is going to try filtering the blood to her brain to let a Lazarus technique work, hopefully. Clowder and Adams had to build a filtration machine." Garrus thought a minute, "How does that work then, in human society, if the father is the cause of the mother's injuries? Does he still retain rights and responsibilities to the child?"

Cassidy said, "We don't know, in this case, if her fall was accidental or not. But, to answer your question, it's murky. In civilian cases, if the mother presses a case to have the father's rights removed, she might succeed, but long experience shows that often the father then decides to attack the mother and children. Sometimes it's murder-suicide, or kidnapping the children or just murdering the mother, or some variation. Because of that, often the mothers won't press any charges or cases, but end up the same way sometimes. Lately however, the courts have been assigning such cases to psychiatric units, if available. Sometimes that still doesn't work if the father goes off his meds and escapes his monitoring."

Cassidy continued, "In a military case, if the mother won't file to revoke parental rights, the brass can do it. Then we can fine him enough for the military to provide child support, put him in military prison with psychiatric support to work off the fine, with no further legal connection to the mother or child. Here I've been saying 'him', but sometimes it's the mother that's crazy."

Cassidy asked, "How does it work in turian society?" Garrus said, "We try to rehabilitate the attacker, assuming the family or the mother herself doesn't kill him in defense, which is really the most likely to happen. But if rehabilitation doesn't work, then we send them to work camps. Once an attack is verified, though, the family can cast off the offender. It doesn't happen often, though."


	84. Chapter 84

Chapter 84

EDI's voice, "Admiral, you are needed in Staff Sergeant Usyk's quarters immediately." Cassidy got up and ran to the elevator. In the elevator, Cassidy said, "EDI, patch realtime video from the suite onto my omni-tool." The video came up. Usyk had Karin against the wall, his forearm against her throat. Jackson had a pistol drawn on Usyk. Cassidy got off the elevator and ran to the suite, a controlled amount of biotic energy ready. She signaled the guard to open the door.

As soon as the door opened Cassidy put a medium strength repulsive field between Usyk and Karin. They were tossed in opposite directions. Cassidy went in and got in front of Karin. "Doctor, are you alright?" "Just bruised, I think." Cassidy watched Usyk. Usyk got up, his eyes were enraged and wild. He burst in a charge across the room at her. She used an aikido move and used his momentum to send him crashing into the bulkhead behind her, where he impacted with a sickening crunch in his neck.

Cassidy went over to Usyk and saw his head at a horrifying angle to his neck. She reached down and felt for a pulse in his wrist, there was nothing. She reached to his neck and checked the jugular, again nothing. Karin got up and held a scanner to him. "He's dead, Admiral. I'll have to do an autopsy to be sure, but I'd say broken neck due to blunt force trauma by a bulkhead as a first guess."

Jackson gave Cassidy a hand up and then Karin a hand up. Cassidy said, "Lay him out in the bathroom, until Dr Chakwas has time for the autopsy. Keep the guard on the door. EDI, keep this room under video surveillance."

Karin said, "I'll head back to the med bay. Thank you, Admiral, for your rescue." Cassidy turned to Jackson as the door closed, leaving them alone in the suite with Usyk's body. Cassidy said, "Give me the run down." Jackson said, "Usyk asked for Dr Chakwas to do a chemical work up on his blood and a brain chemistry scan as evidence for his court martial. The accused has that right to have those tests done within a few hours of the incident. So I contacted her, explained, then escorted her in here. He was on her so fast, I didn't dare shoot for the possibility of hitting her, then he had his arm across her throat. I tried to talk him down, but he just wasn't hearing me. Then you came in, ma'am. Impressive work, may I add, ma'am."

Cassidy said, "Who's your second in command, Jackson?" "Lt Janelle Van Atta, ma'am." "EDI, please have Lt Van Atta report to me here. Did you get that rotating schedule drawn up yet?" "No, ma'am. I did inform Staff Sergeant Yevgeni D'Vorka to report to Mr Bhatia in the morning."

The door opened. Lt Janelle Van Atta stepped in and saluted, "Reporting as ordered, Admiral." Cassidy said, "Lt Jackson, per SOP, as the deceased's CO, you are relieved of duty for the next 24 hours. Report to Dr Chakwas after breakfast. Lt Van Atta you will assume command of the marine team for the next 24 hours. Maintain the guard on this door. Allow no entry save for myself until I say otherwise. Draw up a rotating schedule to cover Petty Officer Schwartz' duties beyond tomorrow." Van Atta said, "Aye, aye, ma'am." Jackson said, "Aye, aye, ma'am." Cassidy said, "Dismissed."

Cassidy went and looked at Usyk. She said, "EDI, just out of curiousity, have you recorded any incoming signals since dinner?" "No, Admiral. The only signals we might receive at our speed are those in front of us, as we overtake or run into them. There have been none." "Thank you, EDI. Oh, assign Schwartz to a new room and come move her things, please." "Aye, aye, Admiral."

Cassidy went to the comm room. She took a deep breath and activated the QEC. She heard the comm officer on the Philippines shout, "QEC from Normandy!" Admiral Hackett's image appeared. "How is the Normandy, Cassidy?" "Sir, we are in FTL on the way to Sigurd's Cradle cluster. It is with regret that I must report the death of one of our marines, Staff Sergeant Ihor Usyk." Hackett said, "Death?" Cassidy explained.

Admiral Hackett said, "I see. I hope for a full recovery for Petty Officer Schwartz. I want to hear Dr Chakwas' autopsy report as soon as she has it ready. In the meantime, I will inform General Aspen. He may wish to speak with you directly." "Yes, sir." "Hackett out."

Cassidy went back to the cabin. Garrus looked at Cassidy's face and said, "What happened?" Cassidy explained about Usyk, " . . . so Lt Janelle Van Atta is in charge of the marines for the next day." Garrus got up and wrapped his arms around her. She rested her head against his shoulder and held on.

Cassidy pulled away, "EDI, where are they in the filtration effort for Schwartz?" "The filtration unit is being tested, Admiral." "Thank you, EDI." Cassidy said to Garrus, "Let's play some cribbage."

Garrus was up, 4 games to 2, when the baby let out a squawk. Cassidy got up and picked him up out of the bassinet. She said, "If you will get the food, I'll hold him while you feed him." Garrus got a cylinder of food and they sat on the couch and fed the baby. Dr Chakwas' voice, "Admiral, the filtration operation has gone smoothly. Clowder and I are going to insert a chip to the base of her brain to provide the signal to jumpstart her brain signals. I thought you might want to be here." Cassidy said, "I'll be there in about 10 minutes."

When the baby finished the last dollop from the cylinder, Garrus took him from Cassidy. "You go down to med bay. I'll change him and get him back to sleep." Cassidy leaned in and put her forehead to his, "I'm sorry to leave all this to you." Garrus said, "Duty calls."

Cassidy went to the med bay. A screen over Schwartz' head showed the view from a probe up high in her nasal cavity. Karin was instructing Clowder. "Make a vertical incision in the tissue immediately ahead, 2 cm in height. Push the probe through slowly . . ." When they got to the skull, a drill bit was brought to the front and Clowder drilled a hole in the skull. He pushed the probe through and pushed the chip forward into the spot Karin indicated.

Karen said, "When you are ready, send the signal as we discussed." Clowder said, "Signal initiated, Doctor." Karin watched another monitor which had two readouts, one showing the chip's signal and the other showing brain signal. After a few moments, the brain signal started to weakly mimic the chip's. Karin said, "Switch to the positive feedback signal. Increase the rest rate as her signal strengthens. Very good. Halt the signal." The chip signal flatlined but the brain signal continued. Karin did conduction tests on the nervous pathways and got happier as each one showed good response in the brain signal. She said, "I think we've done it, Clowder. Retract the chip, then retract the probe, dispensing the trace amounts of medi-gel as you pass through the tissues. Yes, good."

Clowder pulled the apparatus out of Schwartz' nose. Cassidy went up and hugged Karin. Karin said, "I need to undo the filtration now." Norquist said, "I believe I can handle that for you, Doctor." Karin said, "Go ahead. I'll keep tabs on you." Norquist reversed the filtration surgery and got Schwartz' blood heading through her veins and arteries as usual. He closed up the incision in her neck. Clowder said, "I believe we have a cause for celebration." Karin said, "Yes, we do. It will probably be another day before she heals enough to come to. Emory, please set up her IV and nutrition tubes. Be sure to add the prenatal supplement to the nutrition tank. Thank you, Clowder for your assistance. You could be a surgeon if you cared to." Clowder said, "I will consider the possibility."

EDI said, "Mr Bhatia requests entry." Karin said, "Come in." Samesh came in, "Admiral, Doctor, Lieutenant. EDI has kept us apprised of Irene's condintion. Rafa has a small celebratory selection in the mess hall for you. I will stay to keep Irene company. The marines have volunteered to take shifts to leave someone in here with her at all times, to play music, to talk or read to her, or to just sit quietly. Your presence, Clowder is welcome, though if you need to be elsewhere, I understand."

Karin said, "Thank you very much, Samesh. Come on, Emory, let's go see what Rafa has prepared for us. Clowder, you are also welcome to come with us." Clowder said, "I will stay with Mr Bhatia. I have some questions." Karin, Norquist and Cassidy went down to the mess hall.

Rafa had a small buffet, with meatballs, fruit, donut holes, and cheesecake bites. She had sparkling water, sparkling grape juice, and some of the creamy vanilla caffeine drink. Jackson came in. Cassidy said, "Please join us, we are celebrating a return of Schwartz' brain signals." Jackson said, "That's a great relief to hear. Admiral." Solana came in also, "EDI said we're celebrating. I'm so happy." Rafa brought out a few dextro dishes and drinks.

Cassidy stayed for a bit then said, "I should try to get some sleep before the baby wakes again. Goodnight, all." They all wished her goodnight.

Cassidy went up to the room, bringing a plate of dextro stuff for Garrus. She got in and found him reading on his omni-tool. "Brought you some things from our celebratory buffet." "EDI said Schwartz' brain signals have been restored. That's wonderful. Thank you." He ate the plateful of stuff. Cassidy got ready for bed and crawled in. Garrus got in and pulled her close. He said, "I will take care of him when he wakes in the night. You sleep. You need it." "You spoil me." "Not as much as I'd like to."

-end day 20

Hartrus was getting Maklin dressed for the day. "What will you do today, father?" "I'm going to clean the unoccupied family suite. Then, I'm going to work on making a small brig for the Normandy, so there is somewhere to confine someone when the that family suite gets occupied." "When will it get occupied, father?" Hartrus stopped a moment then sat Maklin down and sat next to him. "I found that when I saw Lt Commander Vakarian holding the baby, that I really wanted for her and me to make a brother or sister for you, son." "When would I get a baby brother or sister, sir?" "If she agrees, son, then maybe next year. A baby has to grow for 8 months or so." "So, when I'm 6, sir?" "Hopefully. If she agrees then she will come to live with us and we will live in the family suite."

Cassidy was up. She fed the baby, then took him into the shower with her and using the ointment jar from the apartment (which turned out to be turian baby soap), she got herself and him both cleaned up and dressed. Then she put the baby in the bassinet and woke Wendy and helped her get ready. Garrus woke, got himself ready, then took Wendy and the baby, and a bag of cylinders, diapers and such, to breakfast.

Liara came up with the breakfast trays for her and Cassidy. Liara said, "D'Vorka is learning his way around the galley. So, I thought I would save him the trip this morning." Liara changed the cat food and scratched Callista behind the ears. Cassidy filled Liara in on the details from the previous evening.

After breakfast, EDI said, "Admiral, a message has come through the QEC to you from Admiral Hackett." Cassidy went to her desk and pulled up the message: To: Rear Admiral Casssidy Shepard Victus Vakarian, From Fleet Admiral Steven Hackett. Marine General Heinrich Aspen has ordered a formal investigation into the death of Staff Sargeant Ihor Usyk. You will present all crew with firsthand knowledge of the events under investigation for deposition via QEC throughout the next 18 hours at your convenience."

Cassidy said, "EDI, I want you to contact the Philippines and get deposed first. Let me know when they are through with you." "Aye, aye, Admiral."

Cassidy went down to the cargo bay to get ready for the martial arts class. Samantha, Ensign Kevin Copeland, Liara and Navigator Amy Bates came down. Liara said, "Cassidy, Phillip and I are wondering if you could work with us from white belt to catch up to the others." Cassidy said, "As I am expecting Petty Officer Schwartz to join us later in the week, this will work well. It will help Samantha and Copeland to review since we haven't had class with them for some weeks."

When Cassidy was getting her boots back on after class, EDI's voice came on her omni-tool, "Admiral, the investigators are done deposing me for now. I am sending my audio and video files, but that will take extensive time, so other depositions can be taken and I will send bits of my files in between." Cassidy said, "Thank you, EDI. Lt Jackson." "Yes, Admiral." "Report to the comm room for deposition in the investigation into Usyk's death." "Aye, aye, ma'am."

Cassidy went to the med bay. Dizzy was there. He had classic jazz playing softly in the background and was reading on his omni-tool. He stood and saluted, "Admiral, ma'am." "At ease, Dizzy. Do you know Schwartz well?" "Not very well, ma'am. She played volleyball on my team a couple times and I danced with her once. I never did warm up to Usyk. He rubbed me the wrong way, treated her like crap. I hope you'll pardon me for saying so, but I'm not sad he's gone." Cassidy said, "I hear you. Where is Dr Chakwas?" "She and Norquist are back in there, cutting on Usyk, ma'am."

Cassidy went back into the server room. Karin, Norquist and Clowder were in there looking down at Usyk's open cranium. Karin said, "Ah, Cassidy, I was about to call you." "You have something?" Karin pulled up a pair of forceps with a chip held in them. "We found this attached to the interior side of his brain stem. It had several connections to different nerve clusters scattered through his brain." Clowder said, "EDI and I will analyze its programming shorly, Admiral and give you a report." "Thank you, Doctor, Clowder." Karin said, "I have other samples to take and tests to run, but I should be done with him in about an hour or so." Cassidy said, "OK, let me know when you're done." She walked out of the med bay.


	85. Chapter 85

Chapter 85

Cassidy went down to Deck 6 and over to the portside suite. She walked in and found Garrus talking to Hartrus. Hartrus was scrubbing the floor where Usyk had fallen after crashing into the bulkhead. Hartrus jumped to his feet and saluted her, "Admiral." "At ease, Lieutenant."

Garrus said, "Lt Hartrus here has a proposal for a brig. Tell the Admiral, Lieutenant." Hartrus said, "Ma'am. This bulkhead here extends all the way across the width of the ship. We could sink a small room into the center of this bulkhead, line it with reinforced bulkheads, put in a fold-down cot, a toilet, and sink, and a security door." Cassidy said, "Hopefully we won't need it, but you're right, we got away without one this time because this suite is unoccupied. Garrus, get your team together to design it. The Alliance has minimum specs for a brig. Hartrus can make up a work plan and supervise the construction."

EDI's voice, "Admiral, Lt Jackson is done in the comm room." "Have Van Atta send in the marines, one at a time, that were guarding Usyk's door." "Aye, aye, ma'am."

Clowder's voice, "Admiral, I have a report for you." "I'll be right there, Clowder." "I am in the cargo bay, Admiral." Garrus said, "We'll get on the brig project, Cassidy. I'll oversee it." "Good. I'll see you at lunch." Cassidy went to the cargo bay.

Clowder was at the weapons work bench. He said, "First, I was able to determine that the chip reinforced and amplified the organic condition of anger. Second, when I attempted to access further programming, I managed to determine that there were conditions for activation of the anger reinforcement, but then the power source overloaded and destroyed the data storage medium. In consultation with EDI, we found that the design and coding structures that I was able to obtain are consistent with known Cerberus work."

Cassidy asked, "Are there indicators that can tell us how long that chip had been in his brain?" Clowder said, "That information can be estimated based on the deposition of organic material on the casing of this chip, which I have recorded. However, to be meaningful this data needs to be compared to a normalized deposition rate, which is not available at this time." "Thank you, Clowder. Preserve that chip for the investigators, please." "I will do so, Admiral."

Cassidy noticed the cargo bay was empty besides herself and Clowder. She checked the time and it was into lunchtime. She left and went up to the mess hall. Garrus was sitting with Tork and Javik. Cassidy picked up her tray and joined them. Tork said, "Welcome, Admiral. I have been inquiring about last evening's events. I would like your point of view, please." "What about?" "A female was injured, correct?" "Yes, she is recovering in med bay." "Once the attack was discovered, why was the offending male not killed immediately?"

Cassidy said, "You culture has been shaped by the genophage. Fertile females were rare and extremely valuable to your populace both as individuals and as procreators. It was in your interest to respond to any threat to the females with extreme violence, to maximize their security."

She continued, "For us, before the Reapers, we needed to rein in our fertility to keep from overusing our planetary resources. We did that through socioeconomic incentives: fewer children meant you could raise them in a higher standard of living, provide them with more educational resources and more cultural enrichment. Our females have worked hard over the centuries to achieve as much equality as we have. We value individual responsibility, personal achievement, freedom and justice. We try to prove an individual's guilt beyond a shadow of a doubt before any punishment is determined and that determination is made by juries or judges unconnected to the case."

Garrus said, "We also have voluntarily limited our family sizes, for ecological reasons, which benefits the community, which is our biggest priority. However, now, with the human and turian populations so drastically reduced, it will be interesting to see if larger families become the norm."

Javik said, "For us, females were prizes to be guarded. They were trained in defensive techniques but their primary duty was to produce as many juveniles as possible. We used reproductive technology to increase the number of juveniles they could carry at one time. We did not allow them to risk themselves unnecessarily. Anyone that threatened a female was a traitor and summarily treated as such."

Cassidy said, "Do you know how the females were regarded before the Reapers came?" Javik replied, "There were females known as commanders in the shards passed down, so they had more freedom before the Reapers came. However, we always needed more soldiers to keep our dominant position in the Empire. So, maybe not so much freedom."

Tork paused in thought, (which Cassidy thought was a novel sight). He asked, "Why did you confine him then? Is that not a form of punishment?" Cassidy said, "It is one of my responsibilities as commander of this ship to safeguard my crew from immediate threats, while still accomplishing our mission. When it was determined that he had not summoned help for her, I confined him as a likely continuing threat as evidenced by the disregard he had displayed to a crewmate's safety and the possibility that he had caused or contributed to her injury. Even if he was not proved guilty, he was not going to continue as crew on my ship, as is my prerogative as a Spectre."

Tork said, "So, then he was confined. Why did you kill him?" Cassidy said, "The matter is still under investigation, so I shouldn't talk about it right now, Tork. But I will, when the Alliance brass are done with us over this."

EDI's voice, "The marines have completed their depositions, Admiral." "Let the investigators know that we will take a half hour break." "Aye, aye, ma'am."

Lt Milin Hartrus had asked Solana to bring her lunch tray to the Observation lounge to eat with him. They ate in silence for awhile. He asked, "How is the Vyrik boy?" Solana replied, "Healthy, an easy baby, seems to have a content sort of personality." An awkward silence enveloped them as they continued eating.

Finally the anticipation and anxiety got to him. "Solana, will you be mother to Maklin and my mate?" Solana said, "I was going to ask you if you had waited much longer." They laughed and touched foreheads. They returned to their lunch. Solana said, "I will ask for us to be reassigned to the family suite and see if Liara will officiate the adoption and the civil union." Milin said, "Why Dr T'Soni?" Solana said, "Neither Cassidy nor Garrus can do it, as they're family or about to be. I believe Liara is the next highest status in the ship, except maybe Dr Chakwas."

Solana said, "I'm done eating. You?" "Yes." "EDI, please lock the door." Milin eased her out of her clothing and she helped him out of his. He ran his hands along the curves of her waist, then up along the curves of her neck. He turned her around and pulled her close, "Ready?" "You don't know how ready." He buried his teeth into her neck/shoulder and pushed his cock into her. She sang out a low tone. His hum harmonized with her.

Milin and Solana took their trays back to the mess hall. Cassidy and Garrus were walking up with their trays as well. Cassidy saw the joy in Solana's flanges and checked her neck, "You'll be wanting the other family suite then?" Solana said, "Yes, Admiral." Cassidy said, "EDI, make the reassignment official." EDI said, "Done, Admiral." Garrus said, "I'm happy for you, Solana, Milin." Cassidy said, "And for Maklin, too."

Solana said, "I need to talk to Liara about officiating the civil union and adoption. I'll want you to stand for me, Cassidy." Cassidy said, "I'm honored to stand for you, Solana." Milin looked at Garrus and Garrus nodded. Cassidy said, "When you've got a message for your father ready, we can send it through the QEC connection to the Philippines. Chesa will forward it for you. Same for you, Milin, to whoever it needs to go to." Solana said, "Thank you. Yes, I'll write something tonight." Milin said, "As will I. Thank you, Admiral." Cassidy nodded her dismissal.

Solana and Milin left to get back to work. Cassidy watched them go. She said, "We might have to add another deck." Garrus turned her head up and kissed her.

Garrus went to work on the brig design. Cassidy went to the med bay.

Cassidy saw Karin scanning Schwartz. "How is she?" "Signs are good, Cassidy. She's started having REM, an indication that she's dreaming, which is good. Hopefully that means she'll wake this afternoon or evening." "Are you ready for your deposition?" "Yes, just let me pick up in here. Emory is studying in the Observation lounge. Will you stay until Liara comes? She should be here anytime now." Cassidy said, "No problem." Karin left.

Cassidy sat in Karin's chair. She pulled up her omni-tool and brought up the crosswords. She had filled in only 3 words when Liara came in. "I'm sorry, Cassidy. I had an urgent dispatch from one of my sources." "Not a problem." Liara said, "You are radiating a happiness, Cassidy." Cassidy said, "Solana and Lt Milin Hartrus just became mates. She'll be asking you to officiate their civil union and adoption. I don't know what kind of time line she's looking at, but I'd guess sooner rather than later." Liara said, "That is happy news. I'll make myself available to her this evening."

Liara asked, "Do you know what you're going to do about Melanie's birthday next month?" Cassidy said, "What? So soon? No, Garrus and I haven't discussed it." "I could research some ideas if you like. I downloaded all the cultural calendars for the next month on all Citadel Space worlds while you were on Omega. I'll browse."

Liara said, "The hanar are putting on an underwater dance on Kahje. 'Terrestrial guests can enjoy the performance from the comfort of submersible vehicles.' " Cassidy said, "Hmm, I don't know, I think she'd like something more participatory." "The Thessian Acrobatics Group is raising money by offering guest spots for sale in upcoming performances. 'Dress up in a fantastic costume and ride with us. No acrobatic ability necessary.' " Cassidy said, "Maybe." "Re-opening, Hualapai Tribe offers guided tours of the Grand Canyon on Earth. Ride in and out on mules. Camp under the stars. Whitewater rafting available." "I'll have to ask her. Riding on a mule for hours doesn't sound comfortable to me, but the rafting sounds fun."

Liara asked, "What's a mule?" Cassidy said, "Doesn't the ad show a picture of one?" Liara said, "No, I just got the text versions." Cassidy said, "Riding animal, 4 legs, hooves, herbivorous, covered in short fur."

Cassidy and Liara settled into a companionable silence as they occupied themselves on their omni-tools. Eventually Karin came back. Cassidy said, "Clowder, please go to the comm room and answer the investigators' questions about Usyk." "I will do this, Admiral."

Karin checked Schwartz' monitors. Cassidy asked, "Do they seem to be asking straightforward questions or does there seem to be an agenda to them?" Karin said, "They seemed straightforward to me. 'What happened', 'what did you do', that sort of thing. I have the go ahead to deal with his body, so I'll go do that now."

Marine Corporal Julio Morris came in, "Admiral, Dr. T'Soni. I have come to sit with Irene, ma'am." Cassidy and Liara stood up. Liara went back to her room. Cassidy asked, "Do you know Schwartz well, Morris?" "No, ma'am. I talked to her a few times, as Ihor's girlfriend." Cassidy left and went to the mess hall. She grabbed an orange and sat down to eat it.

EDI's voice, "Clowder is done in the comm room, Admiral." "I'll be right there." "Yes, Admiral."

When Cassidy got to the comm room, she only saw one person's image, Marine General Aspen. He said, "Shepard Victus, at Steven's request, I'll depose you myself, though you've managed to leave not much left to say by sending everyone else first." Cassidy said, "Yes, sir." He walked her through all her perceptions and actions from start to finish, asking straightforward questions.

Aspen said, "There is this worrisome Cerberus chip that your doctor found in Usyk's head. We'll have the researchers work on the info from your geth and explore Usyk's history, see if we can determine when and where the implantation happened. I gave your doc the go ahead for final procedures on Usyk. Send him off when you're ready. . . . Yes, Steven, I'm done."

Hackett's image came on. "Cassidy, I'm looking into how he got onto the Philippines with that chip. Somebody dropped the ball and we'll find out who, when and where. I'll copy you on the reports. Let me know when Schwartz wakes up." "Aye, aye, sir." "Hackett out."

Cassidy left the comm room and saw Garrus on the other side of the war room. He said, "I'm glad we don't need this table now. . . Ready to get Wendy and the baby?" "Yes, let's go."

Wendy came out saying, "Mommy! Daddy! We learned about fish homes. Tanks, ponds, rivers, lakes and oceans. I learned a funny fish name - mahi mahi." Zoe handed the baby and bag to Cassidy, "He was an angel." Cassidy said, "Let's go have some dinner." Wendy took Garrus' hand and they went down to the mess hall.

They sat with Solana, Milin and Maklin. Milin said, "We cut the opening for the door of the brig, Admiral. We'll work tomorrow on clearing out the space." Cassidy said, "Good. Solana, up for bridge tonight, after you move your bags?" "Sure. I'll need about a half hour after dinner, then I'll join you."

Liara and Thane came up and joined them. Wendy chattered to Thane about bodies of water. He said, "On Kahje, most of the planet is ocean. There is not much land. The hanar live in the water." Wendy said, "I saw a hanar. On the Citadel. He wasn't in the water." Thane said, "They have learned to walk on land sometimes, to talk to other species." Solana and Liara spoke quietly together.

In med bay, Schwartz opened her eyes. She saw medical equipment above her head. She figured she must be in Normandy's med bay. She turned her head to look around. EDI stood from the chair and came over, "Relax, please, Petty Officer Schwartz. You are in the med bay. Dr Chakwas and Admiral Shepard Victus are coming."

Cassidy and Karin came in. EDI said, "I am sending a message to Admiral Hackett over the QEC." Cassidy nodded to EDI. Karin came over to Schwartz' side, "Welcome back! Would you like your head raised a little?" Schwartz said, "Yes, please, doctor." Karin raised the head slowly. Cassidy came over. Schwartz said, "Where is Ihor, Admiral?" Cassidy asked, "What do you last remember?" "We were in my quarters. I asked him to leave. I was breaking up with him. He got so angry, really red in the face. He pushed me and I fell backward. That's it."

Schwartz turned to Karin, "Doctor, you checked, right? I'm pregnant?" "That's correct, a daughter." She turned back to Cassidy, "Oh, you must have confined him, because of my injury. Admiral, I don't think he meant to hurt me. I must've tripped. I don't want to press any charges, really. I wanted to tell him that I thought I was pregnant. I wanted him to come with me to get it confirmed. I got annoyed when he wouldn't listen. I could just hear my Nana, 'Irene, a leopard can't change its spots. If he or she won't listen when you're dating, they won't listen when its important. Drop them like a hot coal.' So, I did. I said I had enough and I wanted him to leave. I refused to say anything about a baby."

Cassidy said, "Irene, Ihor is dead. He got enraged in confinement, charged me and crashed badly into a bulkhead, broke his neck." Schwarz' face fell, "What? Dead? Oh my. I'm sorry, Admiral. I was breaking up with him, but I loved him." She cried. Cassidy handed her a tissue, "You have nothing to be sorry for, Irene. Doctor, does she need to remain here?"

Karin took out the tubes. "You are on medical leave for the next 24 hours, Petty Officer. I will grant you further leave to grieve his loss if you want it. Here is a bottle of prenatal vitamins, take one a day with a meal." Cassidy said, "I will walk you to your new quarters, EDI moved your things already."

They got to her new room, furniture in a mirrored arrangement from her previous quarters. Cassidy said, "If you'd like to come hang out in the Observation lounge, we'll be playing bridge in there." Irene said, "Thank you, Admiral. I might do that."


	86. Chapter 86

Chapter 86

Cassidy went to the bridge. Joker and EDI were there. Joker said, "Rough start to a mission, huh, Admiral?" "Yea. EDI, how far, timewise, is the nearest star ahead of us?" "There is a star 1.2 degrees to the starboard 48 minutes out." "Park for the night at that star. We will send Usyk off tomorrow." "Aye, aye, Admiral." EDI said, "I will take the opportunity to make scans of the region of space near that star."

Cassidy went to play bridge. Garrus was there, "If you will hold the baby, I'll take Wendy this evening." Cassidy took the baby and Garrus put the bag at her feet. Garrus asked, "How is Schwartz?" "She is up and in her new quarters. She's on medical leave for the next day." Wendy said, "I'm glad she is better." Garrus said, "Me, too." Garrus and Wendy left.

Liara and Thane came in and took seats around the table. Liara said, "May I hold him awhile?" Cassidy passed the baby over. Solana came in. Cassidy told them about Irene's recovery as she spread the cards for the draw for partners. Thane and Solana drew low, so Thane and Cassidy traded seats so Cassidy was partnering Liara.

Solana said, "I just came from Dr Chakwas to remove my pregnancy prevention." Cassidy said, "Have you decided on when you want to do the ceremony?" Solana asked, "Are we going to do a funeral?" Cassidy replied, "Yes, just before breakfast tomorrow morning." Solana suggested, "Then how about later then, just before dinner tomorrow, with music and dancing after dinner?" Cassidy agreed, "What will we be wearing?" Solana said, "Nothing special. We'll save the formals for a family ceremony sometime after yours."

They managed two games before bedtime for the baby, Wendy and Maklin. Cassidy gathered the baby and his bag. She and Solana left. Once the door closed behind them, Solana said, "Cassidy, I'm learning a bit about what the lines on your face mean about the stress you're dealing with. The last couple days have been particularly stressful. If you want me to take Wendy and the baby, I'd be happy to." Cassidy said, "Thanks, Solana. That time may come, but for now the heavy curtain allows us some private time together."

Cassidy took the baby up to the cabin. Shortly after she arrived, Garrus came up with Wendy. They got the children ready and into bed. Callista curled up with Wendy and the baby went right to sleep in his bassinet. Garrus pulled the curtain across and came up behind Cassidy.

Garrus put his arms around her and reached down, placing his hand below her belly button. He said softly into her ear, "I have reach . . ." She tilted her head up and back and kissed him, "and I have flexibility." Their lovemaking was slow, deliberate and sensual.

The next morning, the crew lined up in the cargo bay on either side of the casket draped in the Systems Alliance flag. Cassidy stood at their head, in her formals, "It is with deep regret that we send Marine Staff Sergeant Ihor Usyk to return his essence to the galaxy from which he sprang. He is survived by a daughter to come, love, friendship and the memory of his distinguished service in the Reaper war. The galaxy has cause to be grateful for the life he lived and for the lives of his compatriots that have returned ahead of him."

Greg sounded the whistle. EDI began playing taps. The marines folded the flag off the casket and presented it to Irene, who had tears streaking down her face. The marines carried the casket to the edge of the barrier of the open cargo bay. The casket lifted off and pushed out through the barrier, then shot toward the star. Cassidy gave them a moment to watch the light of the thrusters until they went dark. She said, "Lieutenant, you may dismiss the crew." "Yes, ma'am." Greg called out, "Crew dismissed!"

Cassidy said to Joker as he limped by, "You may resume our journey at your convenience, Joker." "Yes, ma'am."

She gazed out at the star while everyone walked past her.

When the cargo bay doors closed, Cassidy turned away and went to change out of her formals and get on with the day.

She got on the QEC in the middle of the afternoon. "Sir, we sent Usyk off this morning." "How is Petty Officer Schwartz?" "Coping. She wants to return to duty tomorrow. I will allow her to do so." "Very well, carry on." "Aye, aye, sir."

EDI said, "Chesa forwarded your message to Melanie. Chesa forwarded replies for Lt Commander Vakarian and Lt Hartrus. I am sending the messages to their accounts."

The crew gathered in the open space on Deck 3. Liara stood at the top of the stairs. Solana and Milin stood facing each other. Maklin stood between them. Cassidy was behind Solana and Garrus behind Milin. Gabby had the baby. Zoe held Wendy on her hip.

Liara: Lt Commander Solana Vakarian, do you affirm that you have the legal right to take a mate?

Solana: Ma'am, as a turian citizen of good standing, having taken no mate before, I so affirm my legal right to take a mate now.

Liara: Lt Milin Hartrus, do you affirm that you have the legal right to take a mate?

Milin: Ma'am, as a turian citizen of good standing, having been deprived of my first mate and my son's mother, Havera Dalken, through death, I so affirm my legal right to take a mate now.

Solana Lt Milin Hartrus, I accept you as my mate, working with you as a partner and as mother to our children, performing my duty to our family and our people with honor and responsibility.

Milin Lt Commander Solana Vakarian, I accept you as my mate, working with you as a partner and as father to our children, performing my duty to our family and our people with honor and responsibility.

Liara: Council Spectre, Rear Admiral Cassidy Shepard Victus, do you agree to support this union, for the good of their family and the turian people?

Cassidy: I so agree.

Liara: Council Spectre, Primarch's Advisor Garrus Vakarian, do you agree to support this union, for the good of their family and the turian people?

Garrus: I so agree

Liara: Lt Milin Hartrus, on behalf of your son, Maklin, who is a child, you have affirmed that he has lost his mother, Havera Dalken, to death. Do you accept your mate, Lt Commander Solana Vakarian, as his adoptive mother?

Milin: I so accept.

Solana: Maklin, I accept you as my son. I will guide you and support you, doing my duty as your mother with honor and responsibility to our family and our people.

Liara announced, "Ladies and gentlemen of the crew, I present to you the galaxy's newest family, Milin, Solana and Maklin." The crew applauded. Cassidy said, "Dinner, music and dancing in the mess hall."

Liara pulled out the turian records of civil union and adoption and had them all sign. She had EDI scan them and store them for later submission to Palaven.

In the mess hall, Cassidy was at a table, watching the dancing, Wendy next to her. Wendy asked, "Mommy, is Maklin my cousin now?" Cassidy said, "Yes, Aunt Solana adopted him, so he's your cousin now."

Dizzy came over and offered his hand to Wendy, "May I take my lucky muse for a dance, Admiral her mother?" Cassidy said, "If you want to dance, Wendy, its ok." Wendy took Dizzy's hand and he led her out among the dancers. Cassidy saw Karin and Greg dancing together. She looked over at another table and saw Emory Norquist talking with Steve, Joker and EDI.

Tork came up and said, "Will you dance with me, Admiral?" Cassidy got up and went with him. Tork was surprisingly smooth and led her around with grace. Cassidy said, "You have a lot more skill and grace than, say, Grunt, for example." Tork said, "When I knew I wanted to be a diplomat, I looked up Citadel customs. Dancing is an important skill, so I watched lots of videos and practiced."

The song ended and Garrus claimed her. She asked, "Where's the baby?" He pointed. She looked and saw that Gabby still had him. Garrus led her back into the dance.

The rest of the FTL flight went smoothly. They arrived at the mass relay and EDI pulled the map of the ring fragments. They started the retrieval process.

On the 3rd day of retrieving fragments, they entered the system where the Leviathans had been found. A small ship in orbit of that planet signaled them. EDI said, "The VI says it is programmed to be a communications relay, Admiral. Shall I put the signal through?" "Put it through"

"Shepard, we are satisfied that you are keeping your word. We will listen. We need thralls to serve." Cassidy said, "You need workers. In our society, workers are compensated for their service and allowed to conduct their lives of their own wills." "Would limited terms of service be acceptable?" Cassidy asked, "How would you compensate the workers?" "Care and commerce. We can sell expertise and labor."

Cassidy worked out an agreement with them that their employment office would be on Omega, at a lease rate determined by Aria. The longest continuous term of service would be 1 year, with no more than 18 months under thrall in any two years. Workers under the Leviathans' control would wear a distinctive uniform. No juveniles would be accepted as employees. Only non-controlled representatives would be used in Council space. Those and other terms were hammered out over a couple hours of negotiation.

Cassidy sent the final agreement to the Council, Aria, and Wrex through Chesa.

They finished the reactivation of the mass relay in another 5 days. Once the relay rings were back to spinning, Cassidy said, "Let's go open that relay to the turian Epyrus colony." Cassidy sent messages about their activity to the Council, to Victus and to Rahana.

Ten days later, Joker put them in orbit around the colony. EDI said, "The colony has sent a comm request." "Patch them through, EDI." "Normandy, your arrival is quite welcome. We are connecting you to General Relkin." "This is General Rellkin, Normandy." "General, I am Rear Admiral Cassidy Shepard Victus." "Admiral, I hope to have a debriefing session. Unfortunately we have no levo supplies remaining." "I can send a shuttle down to bring you up, General. We have Advisor Garrus Vakarian and other turians on board so we can host." "Thank you, Admiral. I will await your shuttle."

Cassidy and Garrus were waiting in the cargo bay when Steve brought the shuttle back. The door opened and General Relkin said, "Permission to come aboard, Admiral?" "Permission granted, General." Relkin saluted, "Advisor, sir." Garrus returned the salute, "At ease, General."

They walked to the mess hall, which had a few people finishing lunch. Samesh brought out drinks and snacks.

Relkin said, "I'm sorry to report Admiral that there were 14 humans and a couple asari on our colony. The levo greenhouses were destroyed by the Reapers and there were very few remaining amounts in storage." Cassidy said, "That's rough. I'm sure you did all you could."

Cassidy and Garrus brought Relkin up to date on the major events since the Reaper war. Relkin described the state of the colony's efforts to rebuild, both population and infrastructure. Relkin, " . . . Of course the factories were all destroyed as well, so we are looking forward to the resumption of trade with Palaven and the other colonies. Well, while you're here, is there anything we can do for you?"

Cassidy said, "We are looking for Sergeant Sakera Karvien." Relkin said, "If you'll connect me through your ship, I'll have my office pull her records, see what her status is." Cassidy said, "EDI, connect the General, please." "Connection established, General Relkin."

Relkin said, "She was killed in action on the ground. She had a mate, civil union, Commander Jintex Actus, no children. Let me pull his records . . .current assignment is rebuilding a dam, he has taken a new mate. Would you like to speak with him about Sergeant Karvien?" Cassidy looked at Garrus. Garrus said, "Actus wasn't taken into the Karvien family then?" Relkin said, "No indication of that here. The civil union date was just prior to the arrival of the Reapers, so they wouldn't have had time for a family ceremony, seems to me. If it matters, we can get him on the comm."

Cassidy said, "To do this properly, yes, we should talk to him." Relkin said, "Hang on, . . Get me Dam Control, put Commander Actus on the comm. . . . Commander, I'm handing you over to Advisor Garrus Vakarian." "Advisor, what can I do for you, sir?" Garrus said, "Your first mate, Commander, was Sergeant Sakera Karvien, correct?" "Yes, sir, that is correct." "Were you accepted into her family?" "No, sir. She sent the message requesting that, but we never got a reply." Garrus said, "Thank you, Commander, that's all we need." "Yes, sir." "Relkin out."

General Relkin asked, "May I inquire as what that was all about, sir?" Garrus said, "We rescued an infant on Omega, son of a cousin of Sargeant Karvien's." "Ah, I see. Clearing the way for an adoption, Admiral?" "That's correct, General." Relkin said, "May I have the honor of officiating for you, Admiral, Advisor?" Cassidy said, "We haven't discussed names yet. His parents hadn't named him. He was less than a week old when we rescued him." Garrus said, "How about Talren, after his paternal grandfather, the munitions specialist?" Cassidy said, "Why not both grandfathers? Paktal?" Garrus considered a second, then said " 'Paktal' it is, then." Cassidy said, "General, come with us. EDI, announce the adoption ceremony, Deck 3, all invited."

They went to Deck 3. Zoe came in with Wendy, Maklin and the baby. Cassidy took the baby and Garrus took Wendy's hand. The space filled with nearly all the crew. General Relkin went to the top of the stairs.

Relkin: Admiral Shepard Victus, do you affirm that this infant has lost his mother to death?

Cassidy: Yes, his mother, Varina Karvien was killed on Omega, I so affirm.

Relkin: Advisor Vakarian, do you affirm that this infant has lost his father to death?

Garrus: Yes, his father, Benrus Vyrik was killed on Omega, I so affirm.

Relkin: Have you determined that he has no family with responsibility for him?

Garrus: Yes, we have determined that his parents' families were all lost to the Reapers.

Relkin: Do you now accept the duty to this child as his mother and father?

Cassidy: I accept him as my son. I will guide and support him as his mother, with honor and responsibility to our family and our people.

Garrus: I accept him as my son. I will guide and support him as his father, with honor and responsibility to our family and our people.

Relkin: Declare your son's name to the witnesses here assembled.

Cassidy: Paktal Vyrik Shepard Victus Vakarian

Relkin: Congratulations to you all.

The room sounded with applause. EDI finished pics and vid, then handed Relkin a form for the three of them to sign. Solana signed as a witness.

Zoe took Paktal and Wendy back with Maklin to the daycare. Cassidy and Garrus escorted General Relkin back to the shuttle.

Once Steve was back, Cassidy said, "Let's get on with the retrieving, Joker."


	87. Chapter 87

Chapter 87

That evening, after dinner, Cassidy had Garrus bring Paktal and Wendy to the comm room. Hackett's image came on. "Cassidy, how is fragment retrieval going?" "Like usual so far, sir, with a notable exception. One of the fragments crashed into an asteroid. We had to blast the asteroid apart to free the fragment." Hackett said, "At least it was retrievable. Better than having to mine the materials for a replacement."

Cassidy requested, "I'd like to speak with Hannah and Melanie, please." Chesa said, "I'll send messages to them, asking them to come immediately." Hackett said, "The Selk'nam is coming along. They have about half of the fighters built and docked. I don't have enough pilots yet for them, but we have a small but promising crop coming out of flight school." Cassidy said, "We'll have to get used to smaller incoming classes. We won't recover our population for many generations." Hackett said, "Here are Hannah and Melanie. Until tomorrow, Cassidy."

Hannah and Melanie's images came on. Melanie said, "Hi Mom! I can't wait for us to go to Grand Canyon! Huiquing is going to love it!" Cassidy said, "Happy Birthday, honey. I'm sorry we can't be there with you today." Melanie said, "That's OK, Mom. They sang to me at school today and I got a cake. Grandma got me a pretty bracelet on the Citadel." Cassidy waved Garrus and Wendy up. Hannah said, "Hello, Wendy, darling. Hello Garrus. Who is the little one?" Garrus said, "Our new son, Paktal. He's not quite a month old." Wendy said, "I'm a big sister now." Hannah asked "How did he come to you?" Cassidy said, "Mercenaries on Omega killed his parents and stole him. We rescued him. We had to check to see if any of his extended family remained, but they're all gone. We just adopted him this afternoon." Hannah said, "I look forward to seeing you all when you get back." Melanie said, "Oh, he's so tiny."

Hannah said, "They're asking us to finish up. I love you all! Take care." Melanie said, "Bye Mom, Dad, Wendy and Paktal!" Cassidy said, "Love you, too. We'll see you soon. Shepard Victus out."

3 days later the relay was reactivated. Turian supply ships came in. Cassidy said, "Palaven, Joker."

Once they were over Palaven, Garrus and Paktal, Solana, Milin and Maklin all went down. Garrus took Paktal to a neonatal specialist for the assessment part of his genetic corrections and enhancements. Solana, Milin and Maklin went to the Vakarian estate. Garrus and Paktal returned to the Normandy.

They jumped to the Sol System and came in to dock with the Philippines. Cassidy announced, "You are all on leave for the next 14 days. The Normandy will be going back to Palaven in 48 hours."

Cassidy watched as the crew filed out. Dizzy took Liara, Thane, Javik, Tork, and Soth to the Citadel. Hannah, Melanie and Huiqing came on board. Cassidy hugged them all. Garrus walked up with Paktal and Wendy. Hannah hugged Garrus and Wendy and took Paktal and kissed him on the forehead. Melanie hugged Garrus and Wendy.

Cassidy took Hannah and Wendy up to the cabin. She showed Hannah all the supplies and how to feed Paktal. Hannah said, "We'll be fine. Go show Melanie a good time." Cassidy bent down and kissed Wendy, "Daddy and I will be back late tomorrow. Grandma will be with you and Paktal all night tonight and during the day tomorrow, OK? I love you."

Cassidy went down to the cargo bay where Garrus and the girls were waiting at the shuttle. Cassidy got in and Steve took them down to Earth, to the Huapai territory.

Steve landed the shuttle in the area just outside the guest lodge. They got out to find a young woman waiting. "Admiral Shepard Victus, Advisor Vakarian, Melanie, Huiqing. I am Della. I thank you for choosing us to help you on your time off. This is a lovely time to visit the canyon. If you'll come this way, I'll introduce you all to your guides." She led them around to the far side of the lodge, where there were 8 mules and 2 men.

Della said, "This is my husband, Jonah, and my brother, Dillan. I know you will enjoy your time in the canyon. The weather is going to be calm and clear, so you should not have to worry about that. I'll leave you to it, then." Jonah said, "Melanie, as the birthday girl, I introduce you to your mule first. This is Annie, she is a sweetheart. She likes it when you scratch her right there. Let me help you up into your saddle. Now your friend, Huiqing, this is Emma. Emma is Annie's friend and she will follow Annie everywhere. Up you go. Now Admiral, this is Olga, yes, that's it. Advisor, this is Helga. Yes, there you go."

Dillan handed out broad-brim hats and Jonah handed around packets of sunscreen. Garrus refused both. Dillan pointed out the water bottles on the saddles. Jonah got on the head mule and Dillon got the third to last, the last two being the pack mules. Jonah got his mule going and Annie followed, the rest following in line.

As they rode the trail down into the canyon, Jonah told them about the names of different peaks and formations. After a couple hours, they came into a clearing and Jonah had them get off and walk about to stretch. Dillan passed out small packets to each which had fruit and trail mix. Garrus had some sort of meat sticks.

It was another couple hours to the canyon floor. They went up river for a bit until they came to a cave. Jonah had them get off the mules. He and Dillon took the mules inside the cave, then came out with helmets and personal flotation vests. They got themselves kitted up while Jonah got the raft inflated. He put the raft in a calm bay off the main flow of the river.

Jonah gave them the drill about safety procedures. They got in to the raft where he indicated and he pointed out the handles where they could hang on. Then they were off.

The girls gave off excited screams as they descended the several whitewater sections of the river. Nobody fell off, though Garrus had a death grip on his handles of the raft. About an hour later, Jonah poled them over into another siding. They got off and helped him pull the raft up onto the shore. There was a tractor and wagon there and they got the helmets and vests off and got everything into the wagon. They got in the wagon and Jonah drove slowly back up river. Melanie and Huiqing were awed by the sunset colors as the sun went down behind the upper lip of the canyon.

Dillan had gotten a fire going in a campfire ring. They went and sat around the fire. There were packets and roasting tools. They cooked their dinners over the open fire and Jonah told stories about funny tourists from before the Reapers. He told them about the Huapai hiding from the Reapers in caves down in the canyon, eating what they could get from their traps in the river. Cassidy thought that his cadence was already turning the story into a traditional legend of the tribe.

They got the bedrolls out and put the bedrolls around the fire. Cassidy stared up at the stars before falling asleep.

Cassidy woke and found that Garrus had gotten under both their blankets with her. The morning chill was pleasantly bracing to her, but she guessed he was chilled. She said, "I'm glad I could help keep you warm." Garrus said, "When Sol went down last night, the fire was warm but the back side was getting cold fast. I thought my blanket would be enough, well, I could've managed, but curling up with you seemed like a better idea."

They got up and made pancakes on a griddle over the fire. Garrus had a packet that he put into the base of the fire to cook. After breakfast, Dillan took them on a walk upriver and forded the river to walk on the other side. There were a couple places where they could see the morning sun on some rock formations that shone very prettily. Dillan took pics of the four of them with that view in the background. After about 2 hours, they forded the river again and walked back to the camp area.

Jonah had the mules ready for them. They went upriver to a different trail and the mules went up. Cassidy looked around, appreciating the varied earth colors showing in the formations and the walls of the canyon.

When they reached the guest lodge, Della led them inside where there was a lunch buffet waiting. After lunch, they went into the shop and looked around. Melanie admired a hand-woven and hand-dyed woolen shawl. Garrus bought it for her.

Steve picked them up in the shuttle and took them back to the Normandy. Huiqing went back to the Philippines.

The next morning, Joker, Liara, Thane, Javik, Tork, Soth, Gabby, Dizzy, Ken, Karin, Greg, Irene, Samesh, Raja, Diana, Samantha, Lt Jackson, Lt Van Atta, Cpl Morris, Ensign Copeland and Navigator Bates returned for the trip to Palaven. Tarin, Juran, Anita, Lee, Brian and Liz were given two weeks leave and came on board also.

Cassidy announced that they would be making a stop at Thessia. She said they could have 4 hours to go groundside if they wanted.

At Thessia, Kaleera's personal car met them. Fiala was at the controls. Cassidy with Paktal, Hannah, Melanie and Wendy all got in and Fiala took them to Kaleera's new premises.

Kaleera greeted them and said, "Miss Wendy, your sister Melanie will take you to the dressing room. Come out with just your underwear on." Melanie and Wendy went to the back. Kaleera asked to take Paktal. Cassidy handed him up. Kaleera took him to the back.

Melanie came out holding Wendy's hand. Fiala helped Wendy get into the various parts of her dress. It was similar to Melanie's but looked more innocent and sweet. Kaleera came back out with Paktal in a coordinating outfit that reminded Cassidy of Garrus' formal suit. She asked Cassidy to stand up and hold him. She looked at the drape of his outfit, made mental notes, and then took Cassidy back to show her how to get it off him.

Finally, all was done and Wendy came back out dressed in her casual clothes. Kaleera said, "Admirals, I am going to come to Palaven and bring all the dresses and accoutrements with me. I want to be sure everything is perfect. Now, please let me recommend a very pleasant restaurant two floors down. When you are ready, let Fiala know and she will take you to your destination."

Cassidy and Hannah decided to take Kaleera's recommendation. They went down on the elevator. The hostess seated them at a windowed corner. "The interior cannot be seen from outside, Admiral, for our guests' security and privacy." She pulled a curtain around the interior side of their table, so they essentially had a private room.

The meal was served family style. Melanie took small samples of the dishes unfamiliar to her and split them with Wendy. Whenever Melanie would try something, Wendy would, too. Wendy found a few things she wanted full helpings of. Melanie found she liked most of it, so she took a bit of each. The desserts were quite rich and Hannah split hers with Wendy. Paktal woke up during dessert and Melanie wanted to feed him, so Cassidy handed him over then handed her the cylinder of his food, opened and ready to go.

When they finished, they met Fiala and she drove them to the shuttle.

After the last of the sojourners were back on board, they went to Palaven. Garrus told them there was plenty of room at the Vakarian estate, so they all went there, except for Cassidy, Hannah, Melanie, Wendy and Paktal, who went to stay with Adrien Victus.

Adrien met their shuttle in the underground bay. He took Hannah's hands and put his forehead to hers. He gave Cassidy a hug and hugged Melanie and Wendy, too. He took Paktal into his arms, "My grandson is well formed and strong. I look forward to spending time with him." He led them all to the elevator.

Rahana was inside and greeted them with hugs. "Cassidy, you certainly cut this close! I was worrying for a time there that we would have to postpone. But you're here and that's good. Welcome home." They spent some time talking. Rahana held onto Paktal.

When dinner time came, Rahana said, "Cassidy, Hannah, I hope you don't mind, but I've invited the man I'm interested in. He is Lieutenant Taveran Corinthus, the General's second child. Taveran had an older siser, Jilisa, lost in the initial Reaper landing on Palaven. Taveran and I have been seeing each other whenever his ship has leave here. Its your opportunity to determine if you would accept him as part of the family. I had dinner with the Corinthus family last month."

Hannah said, "I look forward to meeting him." Cassidy said, "I'm sure if he's good enough for you, Rahana, then I'll have no objection." Rahana said, "Uncle Adrien said he won't make a decision based on reputation, so I'm hoping all goes well tonight."

When Taveran arrived, Rahana introduced him around. He shook Cassidy's hand and said, "My father sends his regards, Admiral." Cassidy said, "You may pass mine to him in return. Thank you, Lieutenant." "I will do so, ma'am."

Taveran's flanges were pasted so tight to his jaw, Cassidy fely a sympathetic ache at the hinge of her own jaw. Taveran didn't say much beyond direct answers to direct questions. After dinner, they played the strategy game. Melanie did well, successfully defending her base. Taveran's base was quickly overrun by Adrien's forces. Cassidy managed to pit Rahana and Hannah against each other and she mopped them up after.

After the game, Hannah went to put Wendy and Paktal to bed. Cassidy led Melanie out to the sitting area. Rahana's and Taveran's voices could be heard from the next room. "Taveran, its fine. They know you were nervous. Think how Cassidy must have felt meeting Garrus' father, the famous C-Sec officer who had nothing good to say about Spectres. I'm sure she completely understands." Taveran's sub-vocals were broadcasting embarrassment, "I like you Rahana, but what if I choke every time a family event comes up. How can I compete with a Hero and a Primarch?" Rahana reasoned, "Please, didn't people in basic ask you what its like to be a general's son? They are people at home. Very determined and capable people, but flesh and blood all the same. You'll get used to them." "Assuming I didn't completely screw it up."

Rahana and Taveran came into the sitting room and sat across from Cassidy and Melanie. Rahana said, "Cassidy, what was it like when you met Officer Vakarian for the first time?" Cassidy laughed a litte, "When Garrus called to announce he was taking a mate, his father said, "With who, not that _Spectre, Shepard?"_ He made it sound like I was something you don't bring into a civilized home. Garrus' mother closed the issue later on by formally accepting me, over the comm. He has come around, since."

Taveran asked, "So, your civil union was before the Reapers came?" Cassidy replied, "Yes, in that time when hardly anybody even knew the Collectors were real, much less taking entire human colonies." Taveran said, "I can see why you would have a frosty reception from turians in general, much less from Councilor Sparatus and Officer Vakarian. The affected colonies weren't turian, weren't in Council space and weren't 'our problem'. Then you were cooperating with a group that had targeted turians and other non-humans before. The Advisor's mother must have had a good sense for personal character." Cassidy said, "I think it was more that she trusted Garrus' judgment."

Adrien and Hannah came in with trays of drinks, handed them around and took the remaining seats. Hannah asked, "Is everything set for the ceremony?" Rahana said, "I need to get final confirmation on a few things, but in general, yes, everything's set." Adrien asked, "What's on tomorrow's schedule?" Cassidy said, "I have an appointment for Paktal at the neonatal specialist in the afternoon." Rahana said, "Dinner tomorrow night is at the fundraiser for the Art Museum. I'm going to stay with the children. Garrus will meet you here. Melanie, you can stay or go, your choice, but it will be boring, I can assure you."

Taveran said, "Why don't we take the children to dinner and the Engineering Museum. They have some good interactive stuff Wendy and Melanie may enjoy." He looked at Cassidy in entreaty. Cassidy looked at Adrien. Adrien said, "You will use our car and driver. I will assign a security detail." Rahana said, "Yes, sir." Melanie said, "I'd rather do the museum, Mom." Cassidy said, "I don't blame you, Mel."


	88. Chapter 88

Chapter 88

Rahana accompanied Cassidy and Paktal to the doctor appointment. Paktal was fussy and Cassidy said, "I hope they'll suggest something for him. I think he's started teething. I can feel the top of one of them just poking through." Rahana said, "I'm sure the nurse will know what we should get at the pharmacy."

While they were waiting, Rahana went and asked at the desk about teething. One of the nurses handed Rahana a sample size tube. "Its a mild anesthetic, just rub the balm on the surface as necessary. It won't build up in his system or anything." Cassidy put some on her finger and rubbed it on his 'gums'. He calmed down. Rahana said, "No allergies at all?" Cassidy said, "Fortunately, no. It isn't numbing my finger or anything."

They went in and the doc gave Paktal a shot and they were done.

Rahana took Cassidy and Paktal to her favorite cafe. Inside, Rahana took Paktal for a change while Cassidy chose a table. Cassidy browsed the levo side of the menu, which was a bit short, but a spicy polenta dish sounded good. Rahana came back out and sat.

As they were eating, someone came in and saw Rahana, "Rahana! How are you? When did you produce a son? He's got his father's looks, whoever that is. He's handsome! You've got to spill!" Rahana said, "Cassidy, this is Lt Commander Triquela Stanius, one of my friends from basic. Triq, this is . . ." "Admiral Shepard Victus, has to be!" Triquela held out her hand and Cassidy shook it. Rahana said, "This boy is her son." Triquela said, "Oh, good, I thought I had been extremely negligent of you, Rahana, not to notice a pregnancy."

Cassidy said, "Would you like to sit with us?" Triquela said, "Oh, I wish I could, but I'm picking up lunch for my squad. We have another weather satellite going up today. I'm going to watch your family ceremony live, Admiral. I hear you're wearing Kaleera! My order is ready. See you later!" Triquela collected her order at the counter and left.

Rahana said, "I apologize for her Cassidy. She's a bit high strung." Cassidy said, "What does she do?" Rahana said, "Sourcing. They give her a list of what they need, she finds it and gets it delivered or she goes to get it." Cassidy said, "Isn't that a part of a facility support job? We recently got a facility support person." Rahana said, "Sort of, more specialized."

Later on, Cassidy was putting on her formal uniform, as was Hannah. Hannah said, "I think we should have a couple more of these made for each of us. We'll end up wearing them much more often when we're here." Cassidy said, "Oh, excitement."

Cassidy came out to the sitting room to find Garrus there, talking with Adrien, sounded like work issues. Cassidy turned to see Melanie leading Wendy in. Cassidy picked up Wendy, "I know you'll have a good time with Aunt Rahana." Wendy said, "Aunt Rahana said we will make goop."

Rahana came and collected the girls. "Taveran's got Paktal. We're going now."

At the Art Museum, Cassidy saw many of the same officers that had attended her medal ceremony. She still couldn't put names to anybody but Corinthus. A couple came up during the after dinner music and mingling. She said, "Admiral Shepard Victus, Advisor Vakarian. I am Dr Carsel Grixen, this is my mate Dr Nimmel Grixen. Admiral, I have genetic material for you two. The Primarch has assigned me to your crew to assist you and any others on board with carrying a turian child, as well as to teach and learn from your current doctor. I thought we should meet, since we have the opportunity here."

Cassidy shook the doctors' hands. "I'm glad you introduced yourself, Doctor. We will be working on all this shortly after the family ceremony. When are you planning to come aboard the Normandy?" "Whenever you're ready. I'm working on transferring my patients." "If you get a chance to meet Dr Karin Chakwas, please do introduce yourself. You will be working with her on the Normandy." "If you will pass me her link, Admiral, I will arrange a consultation right away. She is on planet?" Garrus said, "Yes, she is at the Vakarian estate."

Carsel said, "Excellent. With your permission, Admiral, she and I will make a schedule for you?" Cassidy said, "Permission granted, doctor."

They stepped away. Garrus held her a little tighter. He said, "I wish you could stay with me tonight or vice versa." Cassidy said, "Your traditions." Garrus sighed, "I know."

When the fundraiser was done, they went back to the Victus home. Garrus took the kids with him to the Vakarian estate.

Rahana took Cassidy to a art gallery the next afternoon. Rahana said, "Usually this is traditionally a trip to a household store for a couple that is establishing a household, then to a baby supplies store, or something like that. You and Garrus already have a home aboard the Normandy, so I thought we could get you some art for your cabin." They went in and a volus said, "Admiral Shepard Victus, Lt Victus, welcome to our gallery. We represent some of the most sought after artists galaxy-wide. Are you looking for something for a restored public place, or your home Lieutenant, or the Normandy, Admiral?" Cassidy said, "Where are the paintings?" "Just this way, Admiral. I will remain here, should you wish consultation."

Cassidy studied the paintings as they walked through the gallery. She chose one that was a set of three, abstract, but suggested waterfalls to her.

They went to a baby supplies store and a volus greeted them, "Lt Victus, Admiral Shepard Victus, please come in. I am Cartha Nin, and I am honored you chose my establishment for your family needs. I understand, Admiral, that you have recently adopted a turian infant. What do you need for him? A crib, perhaps?" Cassidy said, "Yes, in fact, let me see your cribs." Cartha Nin showed them cribs that could be mounted to walls or suspended from above. Cassidy chose a versatile one with good reviews and got two of them. She also got a shoulder mounted carrier for Garrus.

While they were still shopping, Cassidy got a message from Karin, asking if she had time to meet her on the Normandy for a half hour. Cassidy asked Rahana about their schedule. Rahana said, "If you and I go to the Normandy together right after we're done here, then a half hour up there, then get Solana and head to the retreat . . . yes, that will work." Cassidy messaged that info back to Karin.

A turian shuttle took Cassidy and Rahana up to the Normandy. The driver unloaded the baby stuff. Cassidy and Rahana took the paintings up to the cabin. Cassidy said, "I'll decide about where exactly to hang these later. Let's go on down to the med bay."

Cassidy and Rahana came into the med bay. Karin asked Cassidy to undress and get up on an exam table. "Cassidy, I'm going to check your hormone levels and do an intrauterine scope. You remember I initiated a shedding? Well, let's see if you have begun the cycle after that." Karin put the scanner on Cassidy's belly and inserted her tools.

Karin said, "Cassidy, things are looking very good. If you would like, since we are properly prepped, we could start the human embryo now, so it will have a few days to establish the placenta, which is a necessary first step before the turian embryo is implanted."

Cassidy said, "Wow, um. Now? Really?" "We can postpone but if we wait too long, you'll have to wait 'til the next cycle." "OK, well then, I guess I'm as ready now as I would be next week." Karin said, "Boy or girl?" Cassidy said, "You genetically assayed them already?" Karin said, "Yes."

Cassidy thought about Melanie and Wendy, "Boy." Karin said, "Here we are: boy, red hair, hazel eyes." Cassidy said, "Red, isn't that recessive?" Karin brought out another tool and inserted it into one of the machines and did a warming and a scan. She said, "Steve must have a redhead in his ancestors somewhere. He apparently has the recessive."

Rahana said, "We talk about skin tone. Will the child be closer to one parent or the other, or in-between."

Karin inserted the embryo container into the stuff already inside and soon she said, "You'll feel a poke. OK, done. Lay there for another 10 minutes." Cassidy said, "Would you two give me a minute to call Garrus, please?" They left. EDI said, "Establishing connection for you, Admiral" Garrus' voice, "Cassidy, everything OK?" "Get somewhere private, Garrus." "Just a moment, I'll be right back, Javik. Tell Tarin to take my hand.

. . . Alright, Cassidy, I'm in the vehicle bay. What's up?"

Cassidy said, "I came up to the Normandy for a check-up, Karin said we had a window, so I took it. Our human son is implanted." Garrus didn't speak for a few seconds, "You mean . . . Spirits, that's . . . when does the turian embryo get placed?" Cassidy replied, "Several days. Plumbing needs to grow first. OK, so you know now, you can tell Steve if you want." Garrus said, "If I see him. He and Dizzy have been shuttling people in and out of Cipritine." "I'll talk to you later. Let's wait to tell anyone else until both of them are safely on their way. OK?" "OK, I agree. I love you, Cassidy." "I love you, Garrus. Shepard Victus out."

Rahana and Karin came back in. Karin said, "You can get dressed and head out. Just don't go around bouncing for awhile, OK?" Cassidy smiled, "OK, doc, no bouncing." She looked at Rahana, "We didn't have bouncing on the agenda, did we?" Rahana said, "No, just relaxing."

Cassidy re-dressed and Karin handed her a bottle of prenatal vitamins.

The turian shuttle took them to the Vakarian estate and Solana joined them. Cassidy and Rahana told Solana about the trip to the Normandy. Solana hugged Cassidy, "That's exciting. Step 1, and step 2 not far behind. I think I might be also. I'm going to the doc when we get back, its too early for a home test to register."

They went out to a luxury resort and signed in. They spent two nights there, getting massaged, oiled, primped and pampered. They ate well, listened to melodic music, watched romance movies, and played table games.

Cassidy, Rahana and Solana got back to the Victus home. Cassidy and Rahana collected their bags and the shuttle took them out to the Vakarian estate. Cassidy couldn't believe the sight from the air. There was a security border around the estate and news crews were camped outside the border. The vehicle landing area was nearly full. Their shuttle got permission to come inside the border.

In the courtyard was a huge pavilion that practically covered the entire area from one building around to the others. The shuttle went slowly under the pavilion and to the main residence doors.

They got out of the shuttle and Solana took them inside and up to a suite where they found Kaleera and Fiala and their racks of dresses. Hannah took Cassidy aside to a vanity and started doing her hair. Samantha and Parveen came in to help.

Cassidy asked, "Parveen, when did you get here?" "Admiral Hackett had a ship bring us in about a couple hours ago. Me and James, General Kirrahe, Wrex, his mate and baby, Grunt, Samara, Miranda, her date, Jacob, Brynn and little Cassandra, Tali, Raan, Koris, Anderson and Sanders, Councilor Carter, Councilor Sparatus, his wife, Ashley, her date, Jack, Kasumi, Huiqing, her mother, . . oh, and Zaeed."

Cassidy said, "Well, that's just about everybody I know."

When Cassidy's curls were sprayed in place, Fiala had Cassidy strip then sprayed Cassidy's skin with something that gave her a faint golden glow. Fiala then brought over the first layer of her dress and helped her into it. Cassidy saw that Kaleera was helping Rahana into a dress. First layer on, Fiala went to help with Rahana's jewelry. Kaleera waved Cassidy over and put the robe over her, adjusted it, attached it. The belt and collar went on. Melanie said, "This is like backstage, before a performance." Kaleera said, "That is exactly what this is. You all will be in a performance out there." Kaleera placed the jewelry on Cassidy.

Rahana turned around, saw Cassidy and her mouth dropped open. Solana saw Rahana and said, "I told you. The men aren't going to be able to remember their lines." Rahana said, "Matriarch, you will do my ceremony won't you?" Kaleera said, "Of course I will, darling."

Rahana said, "My assistant is signaling me that we're ready. Act 1. Cassidy, you take Paktal. Melanie you have Wendy's hand? OK, follow me, I'll point you to your places behind the curtain. Hannah, you go with my assistant." Rahana took a length of taupe fabric from Kaleera. They went out. Rahana led Cassidy and Melanie around to a back entrance of the pavilion and they quietly entered on the stage. The music out in the main pavilion lowered and the crowd quieted.

An very aged turian, wearing a Hero's medal, came onto the stage, backed by Coucilor Sparatus and Primarch Victus. His quavering voice projected out over the crowd by a microphone. He spoke with authority, "We have been picking up the pieces left by the grievous blow dealt to us by the Reapers. The Spirit of Palaven is one of rebirth, industry, tenacity. The Reapers did not destroy wantonly, however. They destroyed in order to collect our genetic material for storage for millienia upon millenia, converting our brethren against us to further their goal. This has left the fabric of our people tattered and torn."

He continued, "The Spirit of the Turian People is grievously wounded. We must reach out, gather up the pieces that have been torn away and knit the fabric of the people back into an interconnected whole. There are individuals out there, remnants of their units and / or of their families. When you learn of such people, you must gather them in and reconnect them. It is your duty to our people, to heal the Spirit of the Turian People."

The three left the stage, Sparatus escorting the Hero back to the seats, Adrien going out through the back. A soft march played on the speakers. When the song ended, the lights went down.

The curtain opened and a small spot shone on Rahana. In the back, Adrien led Hannah up the center aisle, the main spotlight on them, walking at a stately pace. Cassidy heard some low voices praising Rahana's and Hannah's dresses. Cassidy saw Diana recording and two other turian reporters doing likewise at other points in the pavilion.

Adrien and Hannah stopped at the front row of chairs. Rahana said, "Uncle, who do you bring?" Adrien said, "I bring Rear Admiral Hannah Catherine Krueger Shepard. I will take her as mate and request that she be accepted as a member of our family."

Sparatus got up and went up on stage, Adrien and Hannah followed him.

Sparatus said, "Primarch, do you affirm your right to take a mate?" Adrien said, "I so affirm. My first mate, mother of my son, Eleria Parxan died in the line of duty."

Sparatus said, "Admiral, do you affirm your right to take a mate?" Hannah said, "I so affirm. My first mate, father of my daughter, Benjamin Vincent Shepard, was killed in the line of duty."

Adrien said, "I accept you, Rear Admiral Hannah Catherine Krueger Shepard, as my mate. I will work with you as a partner, performing my duty to our family and our people with honor and responsibility."

Hannah said, "Primarch Adrien Victus, I accept you as my mate. I will work with you as a partner, performing my duty to our family and our people with honor and responsibility."

Sparatus said, "Having heard your affirmations and declarations, I pronounce you legal mates in civil union. Witnesses here gathered, I present to you, Adrien and Hannah." Adrien touched his forehead to Hannah's. The crowd applauded.

Sparatus went back to his seat. Adrien and Hannah turned to Rahana. "What say you, my family, do you accept my mate as a member of our family Victus?" Rahana said, "Uncle, your mate is an honorable, decorated officer, having shown a commitment to her duty. It is our honor to accept her as family. Admiral, you must call me 'niece'." Hannah said, "I'm honored, niece. I will strive to be a dutiful and responsible aunt to you."

Rahana came up to Hannah and draped the taupe fabric around her collar and secured the loops to hold it in place. She then painted Hannah's face in the Victus pattern.

Adrien and Hannah turned to the crowd and Adrien called out, "Hannah and I have chosen to use the name Krueger Victus." More applause.


	89. Chapter 89

Chapter 89

The lights went dim. Adrien and Hannah went over by Rahana. The curtain closed. Rahana came up to Cassidy and took Paktal. She pointed Melanie and Wendy to go over by Hannah. Rahana pointed Cassidy to go back to the assistant. Rahana handed Paktal to Hannah then went back to her place.

The assistant took Cassidy outside the pavilion and around to the other end. Cassidy was glad for the shade of the awning on the pavilion, the building surfaces in the sun were radiating hot air. The assistent checked inside the pavilion. She came back and pushed Cassidy in and went running the other way.

Cassidy had to take a moment to let her eyes adjust from the brightness outside. She saw she was in an ante-chamber. She heard the crowd chatting in low voices. Garrus came in from outside. He looked at her and said in her ear, "Spirits, and I thought the previous dress made you look enticing." He leaned down and kissed her deeply.

The voices quieted. Garrus said, "I believe that's our cue." Cassidy put her hood back up. He led Cassidy into the back of the pavilion. The main spotlight lit on them. Cassidy heard a collective holding of breath from the turian side of the room. She straightened and held her head high.

Garrus and Cassidy walked up the central aisle, her arm in his. Cassidy couldn't see into the darkened audience due to the spotlight on her and Garrus. She walked with him to the beat of the stately music. At the base of the stage they split and went to mount to the stage at either end. Garvin came out and stood with Garrus, Adrien came out and stood with Cassidy.

Adrien said, "My daughter, who do you bring?" "Father, I bring my mate, Council Spectre and Advisor Garrus Vakarian, father of my children. He has performed his duty bravely and selflessly and will bring honor to our family. What say you, shall he be added to the Victus family?" Adrien said, "On behalf of our family, my daughter, we are pleased to accept your mate into the Victus family."

Garvin said, "My son, who do you bring?" "Father, I bring my mate, Council Spectre and Rear Admiral Cassidy Shepard Victus, mother of my children. She is Hero of the Turian Heirarchy. What say you, shall she join our family?" Garvin said, "She is accepted."

Adrien turned to Garvin, "Officer Vakarian, through our children, I accept Vakarian as ally to Victus."

Garvin replied, "Primarch Victus, through our children, I accept Victus as ally to Vakarian."

Adrien said to Garrus, "Advisor, you must call me 'father'." Garrus said, "I'm honored, father. I will strive to be a dutiful and responsible son to you." Rahana came up and draped a taupe scarf around his neck and painted the Victus pattern around his Vakarian one.

Garvin looked at Cassidy, "I could think of no greater acceptance than Savena's, already given." He played back Savena's voice "Hmm, I can see you are a strong woman . . . and that you genuinely care for Garrus. You must call me 'mother'" Then the recording played Cassidy's voice, "I'm honored, mother. I will strive to be a dutiful and responsible daughter to you." The room was silent. Cassidy couldn't help the tears that flooded her eyes. She stemmed them with the fingertips of her glove before they could make tracks in her make-up.

Garvin said, "Be welcome, daughter." Garvin came up and put his forehead to Cassidy's. Solana came and draped the blue cloth around Cassidy's collar, secured it and painted the Vakarian pattern around the Victus one.

Cassidy and Garrus joined hands and turned to the crowd. Cassidy said, "We will use the name Shepard Victus Vakarian." The pavilion erupted in applause. Paktal screamed in protest at the noise. Rahana took Paktal behind the curtain. Cassidy and Garrus led the stage group over to a reserved section of chairs on a raised platform at the side, where Milin and Maklin were already sitting. Maklin said, "Hello Aunt Cassidy." Cassidy said, "Hello nephew Maklin." The curtain closed.

Music came on and servers went among the crowd, distributing drinks and finger foods. Rahana came back with Paktal and took a seat on the platform with them.

The music went down and the curtain opened. A costumed turian stood in the center with two swords. Other turians similarly garbed and equipped stepped in and surrounded him. They performed an energetic sword dance, flawlessly. The crowd applauded appreciatively.

Next was a human group, performing a pair of loud and showy percussion dances. After that the Thessian Acrobatics Group came on. Next was a band that Melanie was excited about, Vastness of Space, performing a long version of their current top 40 hit and a couple other songs from their latest album. Chairs had been surreptitiously removed and the crowd started dancing. Then the band started taking requests.

Cassidy first danced with Garrus, then Garvin, Adrien, Councilor Sparatus and General Corinthus, in turns. All of the turian men danced competently, particularly Sparatus, a by-product of their basic hand-to-hand military training. Cassidy noticed that they all scrupulously kept their hands on her shoulders or arms, never any lower. Corinthus said, "I'll take it that Rahana will be dressed by the same designer as you. I think many mates will be pleased with the male ardour this evening." Cassidy smiled.

After the band was done, the stage was removed and buffet tables were set up and loaded. Servers brought up plates for those on the platform. Various people came up and chatted a bit. Cassidy noticed Wrex and Kirrahe in an intense discussion.

Miranda came up and introduced her date, Timothy Packard, CEO of a media company. Cassidy shook his hand and he said, "My pleasure, Admiral. Congratulations." Cassidy got a feeling he wasn't somebody she would trust. Miranda gave her a look that said he was no more than eye candy.

Ashley came up with Franklin. Cassidy shook his hand, "Nice to meet you again, Officer." Franklin said, "Way to throw a hell of a party." Cassidy said, "Franklin, meet Rahana, producer of said hell of a party." Rahana said, "I'm glad you are enjoying it."

Kirrahe followed Ashley. "Thank you for the invitation. Very entertaining. Appreciate chance to mingle." Cassidy said, "I'm glad you came." Kirrahe leaned in, "Almost had to decline. Things at home, not good." Cassidy replied, "I'm sorry to hear that. Anything I should know?" Kirrahe said, "Not here, not now."

Wrex and Bakara came up. Cassidy said, "Bakara, Wrex, these are my children, Melanie, Wendy and Paktal." Cassidy took Paktal from Rahana and handed him to Bakara. Bakara looked him over and said, "He is a strong son." Bakara handed him back to Cassidy. She bowed to Melanie and Wendy. Garvin took Paktal.

James and Parveen came up. Cassidy said, "James, started that special training yet?" James said, "Just getting started, Lola. They gave me two days for this, then its back to it. Garrus, man, I hope you appreciate the vision that is your wife here." Garrus said, "No need to worry, James."

Jacob and Brynn with Cassandra came up. Cassidy said, "She's growing so fast." Brynn smiled and said, "The ceremony was just lovely, Cassidy. I cried when Garrus' father played that recording." Cassidy said, "So did I."

Tali, Raan and Koris came. Tali said, "How is Soth working out?" Cassidy said, "I think Gabby is pleased with his work." Tali said, "You should come see my home, Cassidy. We're working on the capitol city bit by bit." Cassidy said, "We'll probably be out that way in not too long. More relays yet to open."

Councilor Carter arrived with David and Kahlee. Cassidy said, "You didn't bring Jared?" David said, "He's having emotional issues so we couldn't bring him. Congratulations to you two, again." Kahlee said, "Hello Melanie. Its nice to get away from the school for a bit." Melanie said, "Yes, ma'am." Carter said, "Very nice party, Admiral." Cassidy said, "My cousin Rahana deserves the credit for the party."

Jack, Kasumi and Zaeed came up. Kasumi said, "I'll bet Matriarch Kaleera is overjoyed at the attention here. She does know how to dress you, Cassidy." Jack said, "Good band, right kid?" Melanie said, "Yes, ma'am." Zaeed said, "I haven't managed to settle anywhere yet. I'll keep looking as you get those relays open, Admiral."

Samara and Grunt came up together. Samara said, "It is good to reunite with friends from time to time." Cassidy asked "How is Falere?" Samara said, "She is doing well. She is founding a new monastery." Grunt said, "Good music. I liked that human group, good beat."

Councilor Sparatus and his mate were next, "Admiral, Advisor. This is my mate, Major Falita Sparatus." Cassidy shook hands with Falita. She said, "Congratulations to you both. You are absolutely stunning, Admiral. Your inner spirit make Kaleera's work shine that much brighter." Cassidy said, "Thank you, Major." Sparatus looked up at Garvin, "Officer, I expect your answer soon." Sparatus flinched slightly and looked at Falita. He said, "However, we are taking personal time, no Council matters, I promised her." Cassidy said, "Let's hope the galaxy cooperates."

Karin and Greg came up. Karin said, "Cassidy, if you and Garrus want to disappear for a day or two, you can. We'll need you back the third day to check the progress of our project." Cassidy looked at Garrus, "I can see you have somewhere in mind." Garrus said, "You'll just have to wait and see." Cassidy said, "Then I will see you on the third day, Karin. Do you two have plans?" Greg said, "Melanie here is telling me about an engineering museum."

Vastness of Space came up. "Admiral, we are huge fans of yours. We are thrilled that we could play for your event. We have an OSD from today's performance, with verbal signatures. We made them out to your Melanie. There's an unreleased track on there as well. If you okay it, we'll release it and give our proceeds to Earth's rebuilding effort." The lead singer handed the OSD to Melanie. Melanie said, "Thank you. This is so cool. Thank you." He said, "May we have a picture with her, Admiral?" Cassidy looked at Melanie, who was standing up. She went down to stand with them. Cassidy said, "Alright then." Rahana said, "I have a good angle of them from here, Cassidy, I'll take it." Rahana took a couple of shots and forwarded them to Melanie and the lead singer. Cassidy said, "That was very thoughtful, thank you." Melanie returned to her seat.

A couple of the acrobats came up. "Admiral, Advisor. Congratulations. We had fun, especially getting to stay for Vastness of Space. We thought your Wendy would enjoy this." She handed Cassidy a sequined, beaded and feathered headpiece with a chin strap. Cassidy turned to Wendy, on Hannah's lap, "Would you like to wear this?" Wendy said, "Yes, Mommy. Its pretty!" Cassidy put it on her head and Wendy smiled a big smile. Cassidy took a pic. She turned back to the acrobats, "We enjoyed your performance. Thank you."

The lead performer of the percussion group came up. She bowed and handed Cassidy an OSD, "Admiral, this is a vid from tonight's performance. We enjoyed performing for you. Thank you." Cassidy said, "We enjoyed your performance. Thank you."

The lead sword dancer also presented an OSD, this one to Garrus, "Advisor, it was our honor to perform for you and your family." Garrus said, "Impressively executed. Thank you."

There was a break and Melanie copied the contents of her OSD to her omni-tool. She found the unreleased track and put in her earbuds. Her eyes got wide and wider as she listened. When the track was over, she handed her earbuds to Cassidy, "Mom, its so sweet. Please say they can release it." Cassidy listened. It was a hard rock ballad about honoring families taken, making new families, the mind matters not the shape. They called it "Melanie's Joy". Cassidy said, "I'll send them our agreement."

Huiqing and Jia came up. Melanie handed her earbuds to Huiqing, "You've got to hear this!" Jia said, "Admiral, Advisor, thank you for inviting us. Your ceremony was moving. The entertainment exciting. The food delicious." Huiqing finished listening to the song and handed the earbuds back to Melanie, "That's really cool, Mel!" Cassidy said, "My cousin, Rahana, put the event together. I'm glad you both could come. I hope you two enjoy Palaven while you're here."

Tarin, Juran, Anita and Lee came up. Tarin said, "Thank you for letting us come, Cassidy. Congratulations on your wedding, Admiral, ma'am." she said to Hannah. Hannah replied, "Thank you. I'm glad you all were able to come." As they stepped down, Garvin leaned over to Cassidy, "Who was the turian with them?" Cassidy said, "Commander Juran Arterius, engineer on the Philippines. Landed in an escape pod on Earth during the Battle for Earth. Lost all his family to the Reapers." Garvin said, "Hmm."

A succession of friends of Adrien or Garvin came up and congratulated the family. Then extended family came. Finally they only people left in the pavilion were current crew of the Normandy.

Liara came up, "Cassidy, Garrus. The rest of us will see you in a few days. Go, take your vacation you didn't get on Earth." Cassidy stood and hugged Liara. She turned to Rahana, "Shall we get these back to Kaleera?" Rahana stood up, "Yes, let's." Rahana led the way out and the platform emptied out as they went inside up to the changing suite.

Kaleera and Fiala helped them all out of the clothing and returned it all to the rack. Kaleera had Cassidy keep the long blue cloth and Hannah the long taupe one. When Cassidy was back in fatigues she took a bag that Solana handed her, "Just some things you'll want for your next couple of days. Enjoy." Cassidy said her goodbyes and went out to the entryway. Steve and Garrus were there. Steve said, "Garrus just told me, Cassidy. That's exciting news." Cassidy said, "Apparently you have a red head among your ancestors." Steve said, "Nana Siobhan."

Steve flew them out to a resort. The staff came out and took their bags and led them to an elevator. They went down and got out. The porter handed them keys and Garrus opened the door. The porter put their bags inside the door and said they would be undisturbed outside of meal delivery.

Cassidy and Garrus went in. The windowed wall ahead of them showed a cave with water that apparently went under the suite. Cassidy went to the patio doors and went out where there were stairs that went down to a ledge along the water. Garrus came and took her hand and led her back into the bedroom.

He gathered her close and kissed her, resuming from the kiss they had started in the pavilion. He undressed her slowly, carressing and licking her skin exposed as each piece came off. He said, "What is this taste on your skin?" Cassidy said, "When she saw my neck scar, the masseuse this morning said, "He will like this" and she spread it all over me." Garrus said, "All over?" He laid her on the bed and set to verifying if that was true.

When he got to licking inside her, she was more than ready for him. She encouraged him to get undressed, which he did. He went back to licking her breasts and sent his finger inside her and used his thumb on her clit. She flushed with heat from her belly up and down. She moaned and pulled him up. "Take me, Garrus." He got on his knees between her legs and placed his cock, then pushed firmly in. She bit her lip as he slowly pumped slowly and deeply. He increased his rhythm a bit and kept on, until she pulled his forehead down to hers. Then he stroked more insistently and they came. She let him lay out to the side of her and pull her close as they cooled down.

Garrus said, "I've been wanting to do that to you particularly since I first saw you this afternoon in the pavilion. I'm so glad that I'm the one that has your permission, because I know I wasn't the only one thinking that way." Cassidy smiled, thoroughly spent. "Do you have any opinions on names for our son now in progress?" Garrus said, "I thought you might want to name him for your father?"

The VI said, "Dinner has arrived." Garrus said, "Leave the cart. We'll bring it in." "Yes, sir."

Cassidy started to get up, but Garrus pushed her back down. He got up, got her bag and tossed it to her. She looked inside and found a couple big satin button down shirts and a couple skimpy bikinis, a pair of flip flops, and her vitamins. She put on one of the big shirts and the flops. She came out and prepared a plate from the levo dishes on the cart. He looked her down and up again. "Spirits, James was right about what those shirts do for the desire. He said he got a few for Parveen, but I know he also imagined you." Cassidy said, "Let him imagine if he wants. Hopefully, for his sake, he doesn't mention it to her."

When they were done eating, Garrus let Cassidy lead him back into the bedroom.


	90. Chapter 90

Chapter 90

Solana was putting Maklin and Wendy to bed. Maklin said, "Will your ceremony have lots of people, too, Mother?" Solana said, "No, Maklin. This one had so many people because Aunt Cassidy is famous and the Primarch's family was involved. Ours will be you, me, your father, Grandfather Garvin, your great-aunt, Aunt Cassidy, Uncle Garrus, Melanie, Wendy and Paktal and a few friends."

Wendy said, "I liked the acrobats, Aunt Solana." Maklin said, "I liked the drumming, Wendy." Solana said, "No more chatter out of either of you two." Maklin said, "Yes, ma'am." Wendy said, "Goodnight, Aunt Solana. Goodnight Maklin."

Solana went out into the sitting area and joined Milin at the table. Milin said, "I enjoyed it, but I really felt for them, having to receive all those guests. I'm glad we are a step removed from all that." Solana said, "She's been on the news ever since her early days in the military. She's gotten adept at not showing any irritation or boredom, if she feels it. I don't know if she does feel that way. Maybe that's why she's such a good commander and diplomat."

Milin asked, "So, when are you thinking for our ceremony?" Solana said, "I'm not sure. Let me talk to my father and to Cassidy. We'll have to fit it between missions and those aren't on a schedule."

Rahana, with Paktal, went back home with Adrien and Hannah. In the shuttle she asked, "I haven't heard anything from you about Taveran, Uncle." Adrien said, "Rahana, he has my support. He will make a good father if his interaction with Cassidy's children is an indication." Rahana gave a sigh of relief. She said, "Ceremony in 6 months, I think. That will give a decent breather from today. Civil union sooner." Hannah asked, "How soon are you thinking?" Rahana said, "I'll have to check with Taveran, but perhaps his next leave, which should be next month, I think. They've been on a rotating patrol schedule."

Adrien said, "I hope you'll stay in your suite, there aren't that many secure buildings yet." Rahana said, "That shouldn't be a problem, Uncle, seeing as both Taveran and Hannah will be assigned on ships. A lot of the time, it will be just you and me, at least until my children come. And then, I wouldn't feel comfortable with them anywhere else, particularly when Taveran's on duty." Adrien said, "Good."

Melanie was teaching Garvin to play cribbage. Garvin was appreciating the company of a granddaughter. He didn't much like living alone. After Savena had passed, Solana had been around, until Cassidy had taken Solana onto the Normandy. Garvin knew he shouldn't be dependent on company, but living alone was harder on him than he had thought it would be.

He thought about the offer that Sparatus had made him, to come back to the Citadel as Executor. He said, "I think I'm going to take a position on the Citadel." Melanie said, "Then I would get to see you more often. On weekends, we are allowed to go to the Citadel, with a chaperone. Sometimes Ashley takes me or Mom or Grandma Hannah. But you could too, if you were off duty." Garvin said, "Well, the position is sounding better then. Here, I'll message Councilor Sparatus right now that I will accept his offer."

–

Juran was returning to his room for the night, as Garvin came into the passage. Garvin said, "Commander Arterius, I hear that you are the only one of your family now?" Juran said, "Yes, sir." "If you are interested, I can consult with Garrus and Solana about adopting you in as their sibling." "I am interested, sir. I am in a relationship with Captain Tarin Woo, the gregarious human woman, commands the flight deck on the Philippines. Would she be acceptable as well?" Garvin said, "Garrus and Cassidy like her, so I see no barrier there, Juran. I will speak with them and get back to you about the adoption." "Thank you, sir."

Two days later. Garrus and Cassidy were in the warm shallow water of the cave, just coming down from more passionate sex. He had not let her stay in her bikinis for very long during those two days. She said, "Its time to head back, isn't it?" "Mmm, I don't want to let you go." "Have you decided? Will Benjamin's twin be a boy or a girl?" Cassidy got up and walked to the stairs up their suite. Garrus followed her, "A girl. Someone for Wendy to champion."

Steve picked them in the shuttle and brought them back to the Vakarian estate. They went into the main residence and Melanie came running down the hall and hugged Cassidy then Garrus. "Grandfather Garvin left this morning with Councilor Sparatus." Cassidy said, "Yes, honey, we know. He messaged us." Maklin and Wendy raced into the room. Maklin shouted, "I win!" Wendy came up and Garrus lifted her up for a kiss. Solana and Milin walked in.

Solana came up and hugged Cassidy, "You look thoroughly relaxed, both of you. Good, I don't think I've seen you that way since your wedding on the Citadel. You were overdue."

Solana said, "Alright, Maklin, Wendy. I let you stay up to greet them. Its bedtime now. Go!" "Yes, Mother." "Goodnight, Mommy, Daddy. Yes, Aunt Solana." Milin went off with Maklin and Wendy.

Garrus, Cassidy, Melanie and Solana sat down to wait for Milin to return before starting a movie. Solana said, "Garrus, did father mention adding Juran Arterius to the family?" Garrus said, "I have not had a conversation with him since the ceremony, Solana. What do you think?" Solana said, "I have been watching him with the others from the Philippines. He seems to be quiet, enamored of Captain Woo, and a competent engineer. I think he would work out just fine."

Garrus turned to Cassidy, "You probably know him best. What do you think?" Cassidy said, "He is a nice person, works hard in the martial arts class, is very sweet with Tarin and willingly helps with Kahlee's son, Jared. I hope we do take him in."

Milin returned and they cued up the movie.

The next morning, Cassidy had a dextro grain dish in addition to her regular dishes. She mixed butter and sugar into it as if it was wheat based, and said, "The levo version doesn't have much taste anyhow, so this isn't that much different."

Cassidy and Garrus went to the office of Dr Carsel Grixen. They were shown into an exam room where Karin and Carsel were ready for them. Cassidy got undressed and up on the exam table. Karin did a general scan then an internal scan. "She is ready, Carsel." Carsel asked, "You indicated you want a female, correct?" Cassidy looked at Garrus and he said, "Yes, a girl." Carsel said, "Female selected, embryo prepped, beginning."

Carsel continued, "Site prepped, presence of dextro nutrients confirmed, implanting embryo . . . stimulating bond . . . blood vessels forming. Advisor, I'm going to monitor this in detail for another 30 minutes. You could go get her something to drink while we're waiting." Garrus went out.

Garrus came back with a bottle of an asari juice drink. Karin said, "Here I'll take that. You lift her from the exam table to the next room where there's a bed. We're going to keep her off her feet until the turian embryo is firmly established." Cassidy said, "They put a monitor implant in there to keep tabs with a scanner." Garrus went over and picked her up and carried her to the next room and put her on the bed. Karin came in and handed the bottle, now with a straw in it, to Cassidy.

Karin said, "Let's see if your omni-tool will amplify the signal." Cassidy pulled up her omni-tool and searched for the signal, finally Garrus said, "If you'll give me access . . ." Cassidy let Garrus into her system and he got the signal synched and amplified.

Karin said, "Excellent, I can get the signal remotely now. So, have you two thought of names for the babies?" Garrus said, "We've decided to call our son 'Benjamin'." Karin said, "That's sweet, after your father, Cassidy. And the girl?" Cassidy said, "What about after your mother, Garrus?" Garrus said, "Pulling their names from similar sources, giving them similarities? That is a good idea on more level than one. I like it. Benjamin and Savena."

Karin said, "Melanie, Wendy and Paktal all have a second name from their birth family. Are you going to give these two a second name?" Cassidy thought a bit, then said, "I wouldn't mind acknowledging Steve and Rahana's contributions, so Benjamin Cortez and well, what was Rahana's mother's family name?" Garrus said, "Just a minute, I can look that up in the public record . . . Malithax. So, Savena Malithax Shepard Victus Vakarian?" Cassidy said, "Well that's one thing settled, or rather two things settled. Grandparent and genetic recognitions in the names."

Cassidy asked, "How long do I need to be off my feet? Like a half hour or 4 hours or more?" Carsel came in, "Probably on the order of two hours, Admiral. Karin, you've got the monitor signal amped on her omni-tool?" Garrus sent a message to Carsel, "There, that's the code to read the signal yourself, Doctor."

Cassidy asked, "Do you have other patients coming in?" Carsel said, "No, I transferred my last patient just now. You are my primary focus now, Admiral. Speaking of which, here is a container of dextro nutritional supplements for fetal development. You should take one immediately." Cassidy said, "I believe one of my engineers, Solana Vakarian, may be newly pregnant. Will you see her?" "Certainly, since her pregnancy would still need genetic assessment, best she gets checked as soon as possible."

Cassidy called Solana, "Cassidy? You're at the doctor right? Is anything wrong?" Cassidy said, "Things are fine, I'm in a waiting period for a couple hours. Dr Carsel Grixen has been added to our crew. Do you want to come in and have her check you?" "Just a second, Cassidy. Milin, do you mind if I leave the kids with you? Cassidy wants me to come into Cipritine. OK. Yes, Cassidy, I'll get Dizzy to bring me in. See you in a bit."

Cassidy said, "How about we teach Carsel to play bridge?" Karin smiled, "The more players on board, the better." Carsel asked, "What is bridge? Obviously not a type of infrastructure." Garrus said, "A partnered card game. Did you bring cards with you, Cassidy?" Karin said, "I have my bag here, and I do have cards. Just a minute."

Garrus helped Carsel set up a table and chairs. Karin came in with cards and pencil and paper. Cassidy said, "You can partner me, Carsel. We'll start with an open game."

They had just begun a second game when the VI announced, "Lt Commander Solana Vakarian has checked in, Doctor." Carsel said, "Admit her. Admiral, Advisor, please excuse us." Carsel and Karin left.

Cassidy asked Garrus, "I think you should add a turian daycare person to the crew. How do you go about that?" Garrus said, "I am looking up the training for that skill set, then the placement officer assigned there and . . . I place a call . . . Yes, Lieutenant, this is Advisor Garrus V . ., sorry, Shepard Victus Vakarian. I need a daycare worker to be assigned to the Normandy. No, not urgent. We are on leave. The worker needs to be willing to work with a diverse crew, including krogan, and non-turian children. Yes, we could do that. Very well, I'll make the call. Thank you, Lieutenant."

Cassidy asked, "We could do what?" "Interview by comm. The lieutenant's top recommendation is on the other side of the planet. There, placing a comm request. Hmm, its late in their day. . . .Here, I'm sharing the comm with your omni-tool . . . Corporal Kathera Tactus? Yes, this is Advisor Garrus Shepard Victus Vakarian. Admiral Cassidy Shepard Victus Vakarian is here also. Corporal, I wish to consider you for transfer to the Normandy. Have you worked with humans? Tell me about that. . . . I see. Have you worked on a ship? No, Corporal, your inexperience with ship life will not disqualify you. I'm looking up your records, good reviews from your commanders. I think you'll fit in fine, Corporal. I'm transmitting orders to your commander. Good night, Corporal." He typed up the orders and sent them out.

Cassidy asked, "When will she come?" Garrus said, "She is the sole child caretaker for a mining unit. They need to get a replacement for her before she can come. That should happen soon, though there will be delays due to time zone fatigue."

Solana came into the room, "I was right! Two weeks carrying. Its a boy." Cassidy said, "That's wonderful, Solana. Congratulations!" Garrus said, "I'm glad for you, Solana." Solana said, "What about you two, boy or girl?" Garrus said, "Girl. Her name is Savena Malithax Shepard Victus Vakarian." Solana said, "Oh, I'm so glad you're using mother's name! Where does Malithax come from?" Cassidy said, "Rahana's mother's side."

Carsel and Karin came in. Carsel said, "I'll need to see you in a couple days, Lt Commander." Solana said, "Yes, Doctor." Carsel said, "We have time to finish this game if you like, Admiral." Cassidy said, "Solana, is Dizzy waiting for you or do you want to wait and head back with us?" Solana replied, "Dizzy had a request from Samesh so he said I could either call or join with you. I'll go with you. I'll observe the game." Garrus said, "I'll get another chair."

Once the game was over, Carsel scanned Cassidy. "Treat yourself gently for the rest of the day, please, Admiral. You should eat soon. You should have small snacks between meals as well, to keep up the dextro nutrient levels, since you have no reserves to draw on. In fact, I think I want to be there tonight to monitor you during sleep, see whether the dextro levels stay high enough. I'll let my mate know." Karin said, "I'll get my bag. You can share my suite at the Vakarian estate, Carsel."

Steve returned them all back to the Vakarian estate, where a buffet was just being served. Garrus installed Cassidy on a couch in the common room, "No, you will not get up except to use the bathroom." He got Cassidy a plate with the levo things he knew she liked and a sampling of the dextro dishes. Cassidy mixed the dextro into the levo stuff and ate.

Joker, Liara, Thane, Javik, Samantha and Steve brought their dinners into the common room. Cassidy and Garrus updated them about their morning. Liara said, "Tork is eating with Soth and Gabby and Ken in the dining room. Diana took Melanie, Rafa, Copeland and Bates to an asari restaurant. The marines are in the dining room. Samesh and Dizzy are eating out somewhere together." Carsel, Karin and Greg came into the common room and Solana, Milin, Maklin and Wendy followed shortly after. Then Tarin, Juran, Anita and Lee came in also.

EDI came in and spoke with Carsel and Karin. Then, she came over to Cassidy. "Admiral, I am going to station myself in the sitting room of your suite to help the doctors monitor your blood levels overnight. Dr Chakwas thought it would be more comfortable for everyone concerned, rather than having the doctors taking alternating watches." Cassidy said, "Thank you, EDI. I agree, it will ease the doctors' burden, and be more comfortable for us."

Cassidy said to the room, "We'll be taking Melanie back to school tomorrow. You all can come on the ship or stay here on Palaven. We can make drop-offs if any of you want to spend some time on Thessia, for example."

Tarin looked around, "How many bridge players do we have here? Me, Anita, Lee, Solana, Samantha, Liara, Thane, Karin, Cassidy, Garrus. That's 10." Karin said, "We taught Carsel this afternoon." EDI said, "I can make it 12 for three tables." Tarin asked, "EDI can you randomize the partnerings at each table?" EDI said, "Is everyone agreeable then?" EDI looked around and everybody nodded. Joker said, "Us non-bridge players can do a poker game."

EDI said, "Table 1: Cassidy and Samantha vs Tarin and Carsel. Table 2: Garrus and Liara vs Lee and me. Table 3: Anita and Karin vs Thane and Solana. Shall we rotate after each game? The winning pair remains, the other goes to the next table, in other words 1 to 2, 2 to 3, 3 to 1?" Cassidy said, "Sounds good to me." Garrus, Anita, Lee and Thane went to get tables and chairs.

Garrus came and gave Cassidy a hand up. She went to the chair Garrus indicated for her. Samantha sat across from her. Tarin passed around cards and paper and pens.

Cassidy and Samantha won their first game. Thane and Solana came to their table. Cassidy and Samantha lost the second game, so they went to join Garrus and Liara. Cassidy and Samantha won the third game. Dessert buffet was announced and they took a small break.

Garrus brought Cassidy a plate with 2 slices of what looked like cheesecake, one with red fruits in the top. There was a cup of chocolate sauce and a cup of caramel. Cassidy pointed to the fruit-topped slice, "This is dextro?" Garrus said, "Yes. I figured you could put some of each on your fork. That way you'll still get the tastes you expect." Cassidy poured the caramel and chocolate over the slices and took a bit of the dextro and a bit of the levo, and tried it. She said, "You're right. This is good."

EDI reassigned the partners and they played two more games. Then they called it a night.

Garrus and Cassidy went to bed in their suite and EDI quietly settled herself in their sitting room.


	91. Chapter 91

Chapter 91

The next morning Karin and Carsel came to the sitting room. Karin scanned Cassidy and Carsel examined the time scale readings from the monitor. They went consulted quietly together. Then Karin said, "There's good news and bad news. The good is that your body is treating the dextro nutrients like any other, except your cells won't take it in for energy, but your liver will take it in for storage. That's good for Savena. The bad news is that the flip side is that as long as dextro is being stored, your levo storage levels are going to decline. You will have less energy reserves than you are used to. I'm going to have to recommend that you suspend any and all biotic activity until you deliver the babies."

Cassidy considered this. "Well, it isn't like I was going to be allowed out on risky missions anyway. Not that there are so many risky missions any more, either. The joy of being assigned to diplomacy." Garrus squeezed her shoulder.

Cassidy said, "We should get our stuff and go get Hannah and Paktal." Garrus said, "I'll get our bags."

Cassidy and Garrus met Steve at the shuttle and he took them into Cipritine to the Victus' home. Cassidy and Garrus went down and were admitted. Adrien, Hannah, and Rahana with Paktal were waiting for them. Cassidy took Paktal and hugged Rahana, then Adrien. Adrien looked her in the eye and said, "You must not risk yourself, daughter." Cassidy said, "I will be mindful of security for myself and the two I carry, father." Adrien nodded and put his forehead to hers.

Hannah took her bags and Garrus grabbed Paktal's bag. Cassidy followed them back out to the shuttle. They went up to the Normandy. Everyone had returned for the trip back to the Sol system. Solana and Wendy met the shuttle in the cargo bay. Solana said, "Samesh is working on breakfast. He says about 20 minutes." Cassidy said, "Thanks, Solana."

Cassidy took Wendy's hand and went upstairs. Wendy said, "Mommy, Aunt Solana says she's growing a baby. Maklin's going to have a little brother." Cassidy said, "That's right. She told me and Daddy yesterday." "My little brother is Paktal." "Yes, that's right. I am growing two babies. You and Paktal will have a little brother and a little sister." "Will they be human? Like you and me and Melanie?" "The little brother is human. The little sister is turian, like Daddy and Paktal."

Wendy thought for a minute while Cassidy changed Paktal. "Mommy. Daddy can't make a human. You can't make a turian. Right?" Cassidy said, "That's right, Wendy. Uncle Steve gave some of his boy cells to Dr Chakwas and Dr Chakwas took some of my girl cells. She mixed them together to make embryos." "What are em-bree-ohs?" "Those are like baby seeds. If they get planted, then they might grow into babies." "Who gave turian girl cells?" "Aunt Rahana."

Cassidy said, "When we go to drop off Melanie back at school, we'll get you some flower seeds and you can grow some flowers. How does that sound?" "What flowers can I grow?" "We will have to see what they have in the greenhouse." "OK."

Garrus came in the room with their bags. Wendy said, "Will you eat with me, Daddy? Garrus said, "Yes, Wendy, you and I will have breakfast together in a few minutes." Cassidy emptied Paktal's bag then her own bags. Garrus emptied Wendy's bag, then his. Garrus took Wendy to breakfast. Cassidy kept Paktal and Liara came up with trays.

Liara said, "Your ceremony has Javik speculating about family, Cassidy." Cassidy said, "Are you and Javik getting close? I had the impression that you and Thane had been spending time together." Liara said, "Thane is being friendly, but I think he secretly hopes to be castrill for you and Garrus, Cassidy." "What's that, castrill?" "You should ask Garrus, Cassidy." Cassidy said, "So, you're dodging the question. You and Javik?" Liara said, "Its hard. We've been talking a lot. Mostly about material for the book. As long as we're talking about the past, he's on familiar ground. Before though, I think going on with life really left him drifting at sea."

Liara went on, "But now, it almost sounds like he's talking himself into the idea of maybe making a family. I really have no idea what Prothean courtship rituals were like, or if there were anything beyond the most perfunctory introductions by the end when Javik came into maturity. I don't know if I should continue waiting on him, or if I should make suggestions?" Cassidy said, "Well, maybe when he's talking about family, you should say something like you hope that he would consider making a family with you. But I suppose that's the rub, isn't it. Whether that would be too forward or not." Liara said, "I'll think about it."

When they arrived in the Sol system, Cassidy went to the bridge to watch as they docked with the Philippines. Behind her Hannah had her bags ready. Tarin, Juran, Anita and Lee were lined up at the door, along with Copeland, Bates and Samantha. Ken and Gabby were in the cargo bay, waiting to shuttle down to Earth.

The door opened and Hackett welcomed them aboard. The line filed onto the Philippines, until Hannah and Cassidy were left with Joker. Garrus came with Wendy and Melanie, who was carrying Paktal, up the aisle. They went onto the Philippines. Hackett greeted them, with an invitation to join him in his quarters for lunch. Hannah took her bags to her suite. Cassidy took Paktal, Garrus took Wendy's hand and they followed Melanie back to Grissom. Kahlee greeted them, and welcomed Melanie back. Kahlee led Melanie back into the school and the door closed behind them.

Wendy said, "Daddy, Mommy says I can grow a flower." Garrus said, "I suppose we had better go to the greenhouse then." They went in and Cassidy found a worker, "Seaman. We would like a small greenhouse to grow flowers on the Normandy." "Yes, Admiral. If you'll come this way, you can choose a size." The worker helped them gather all the necessary supplies.

"Ma'am, which flowers do you wish to grow?" Cassidy asked, "Which are easiest to grow from seed?" "I would suggest mini sunflowers, ma'am. Then you can harvest the seeds for propagation and/or to eat. Also, marigolds and zinnias are really easy." Cassidy said, "Let's do all three then." Cassidy arranged for everything to be delivered to the Normandy.

Cassidy took them up to Hackett's quarters for lunch. Lee, Anita, Tarin and Brian were there also. Once they all had plates, Hackett said, "I watched your event. It was quite the production." Tarin said, "She looked great on the vids, but absolutely awesome in person." Wendy said, "I liked the acrobats. They gave me a pretty head thing." Anita said, "You, Miss Wendy, looked absolutely darling." Wendy said, "Thank you. I liked my dress."

Hackett asked, "How did you come by your new son?" Garrus said, "He was orphaned on Omega." Lee said, "I imagine that must happen from time to time there, with the death rate they have. Wouldn't orphaned children be, what, sold on the slave market?" Cassidy said, "Probably. This time however, his parents were both agents for Aria. We were with her when she got word that they had been taken out and the baby stolen. She said if we went to get the boy, she would owe us a favor for delivering her consequences for her." Garrus continued, "We went in to the mercs warehouse, took out about 3 dozen, then they wised up and backed off."

Cassidy said, "He was in a crate with a mother - sort of a boar, a turian animal - and a bunch of its young. We had to let her out to get to him and the piglets went squealing all over the place. I got her in stasis before she got her tusks into me." Tarin asked, "Turian babies don't drink milk, not being mammals, right?" Garrus said, "They eat basically what we eat, just ground fine with some softening agents."

Paktal started to fuss, so Garrus said, "I'm going to take these two to the Normandy. I'll meet you there." Anita, Lee and Tarin went to return to duty. Hackett said, "Cassidy, you are still on leave. I just want to bring you up to speed on some developments. The salarians look to be on the brink of civil war. Apparently, the dalatrasses on Sur'Kesh have tried to get the STG to disrupt our relations with the krogan. There have been a few assassinations of STG commanders that defied their orders. One of those was General Kirrahe, just got word about that. The krogan have pledged support against the dalatrasses."

Cassidy said, "Damn, Kirrahe was a good man. He was at the ceremony, talking to Wrex and Bakara. He said things at home were not good. Is Wrex talking to the Council?" Hackett said, "Yes. Though the salarian Councilor was appointed by the dalatrasses and is denying everything." Cassidy said, "I suppose we are trying to stay out of it?" Hackett said, "Technically, yes. If you run into any STG out there, do what's right. We'll deal with the spin." "Aye, aye, sir."

Cassidy returned to the Normandy. Garrus came down, "Liara offered to sit up with the kids while they're sleeping." Cassidy said, "Kirrahe's dead, assassinated. Hackett said the salarians are close to civil war." Garrus said, "I liked Kirrahe. I wonder what 'peacekeeping' the Council might ask Primarch Victus to do."

They spent the afternoon constructing the greenhouse next to the elevator, facing the med bay on Deck 3. Clowder joined in, putting in the water system, so Wendy could operate the sprayer to water the flowers. Milin came and helped as well.

Liara brought Wendy and Paktal down when nap-time was over. Wendy was excited to see the greenhouse. "When will flowers start to grow, Daddy?" Garrus said, "At least a week or so, sweetheart." Cassidy walked with Liara into her room and told her about Kirrahe. "Let me check my terminals here. Yes, my agent is reporting the same thing. I'll see if I can get details. Maybe I can find out who ordered the hit." Cassidy left Liara to it.

Cassidy suggested getting dinner at Chopsticks on the Citadel. Solana, Milin and Maklin, Liara, Javik, Thane and Tork all joined them on the shuttle. Cassidy called Jia ahead to let her know how many were coming. At the last moment, Callista ran in and settled on Cassidy's lap. Cassidy petted her, "What, are you deserting us, or you want some shore leave, too?" Callista purred and kneaded Cassidy's lap. When they landed on the Citadel, Callista jumped out and ran off out of sight.

Jia had tables pushed together to seat a dozen when they got there. She started bringing out the plates immediately. Ashley and Franklin came in and Cassidy waved them over, "Come join us, we've got room!" Ashley leaned in close to Cassidy, "Jondam Bau is just outside, cloaked. If its okay with you, he wants to come in and then follow you onto the Normandy when you return. I'm going to come openly." Cassidy said, "Ok, tell him to come in." Cassidy watched the door and saw the subtle shift in the light that meant a cloak.

Garvin came in. Cassidy waved him over. "Javik, would you grab a chair and put it at the end of your table?" The group adjusted so Garvin could sit next to Cassidy. He said to her quietly, "Do you know that there is a cloaked somebody just over there?" Cassidy said, "Yes. He's with us."

Cassidy said, "The Citadel seems to suit you, father. Are you settling in well as Executor?" "Still getting my systems booted, but things are going smoothly so far. My apartment is well-appointed." He looked over at Solana. "Are we all agreed about Commander Juran Arterius?" Solana said, "Yes, we have discussed it and we are all agreed." Garrus and Cassidy both nodded. Garvin said, "I'll let you work out a time and place, Cassidy." Cassidy said, "I'll get back to you on that, Father."

They finished dinner and Ashley called out that she needed to get a bag, then she would come to the Normandy. When they got to the shuttle, Callista was waiting with a big black short-hair male cat, a bit too skinny. The shuttle door opened and both cats got on. Cassidy got in with Wendy. She leaned up to Steve and told him that Jondam Bau was getting on, too. She sat down. Wendy said "Hi Kitty! What is the kitty's name, Mommy?" Cassidy said, "I don't know yet. What would you like to call him?" Wendy said, "Freddy." Garrus said, "OK, so Callista went and found Freddy and is bringing him home." Callista sat by Freddy and licked his ears.

Jondam decloaked once the shuttle was off the Citadel. Wendy was petting Callista and looked up. "Mommy, where did he come from?" Cassidy said, "That's my friend, Jondam, honey. I'm letting him come onto the Normandy with us."

When they got onto the Normandy, Cassidy took Jondam to an empty room on Deck 6. "So, I take it you're not here officially." "Admiral, that is correct. I'm supposed to be at a meeting with the Councilor. I'm quite sure I do not want to know what orders he would pass to me from the dalatrasses." Cassidy said, "EDI, no outgoing signals about Jondam's presence here, please." "Understood, Admiral." Cassidy said, "Let me introduce you to Samesh, our chef." She led Jondam out to the mess hall and found Samesh and Rafa and introduced Jondam. She also told Samesh about Freddy.

Cassidy got a message from Hackett, ordering her to report for a meeting in his office. She texted Garrus about the meeting. Then she went aboard the Philippines and up to Hackett's office. Councilor Carter was there. Cassidy came in and saluted, "Reporting as ordered, sir." Hackett returned the salute. Carter asked, "Admiral Shepard Victus Vakarian. Spectre Jondam Bau is wanted by his embassy. Did you see Jondam Bau when you were just this evening aboard the Citadel?" Cassidy said, "No, ma'am. I did not see Spectre Jondam Bau aboard the Citadel today." Carter asked, "Did Jondam Bau send you any messages?" "No, ma'am. I have received no messages from Spectre Jondam Bau today."

Carter said, "The Salarian Councilor has asked me to pass on his request to my Spectres, which is to let him know if you make contact with Jondam Bau." Cassidy said, "Understood, Councilor." Councilor Carter left the room.

Hackett pushed a button on his desk and a jamming field went up. Cassidy sat down. Hackett asked, "He is on the Normandy?" Cassidy said, "Unofficially." He pressed the button and the field dissipated. "What are your plans next, Cassidy?" "Go to Thessia tonight. Spend a few days." "Let me know how their reconstruction is going. Contact me via QEC if something comes up, I'll do likewise." "Aye, aye, sir." Cassidy got up. Hackett said, "Dismissed." Cassidy went back to the Normandy.


	92. Chapter 92

Chapter 92

Back on board the Normandy, Cassidy asked, "Joker, get us to Thessia, please." Joker said, "Will do, Admiral."

Cassidy went to Ashley's room. "We're on our way to Thessia, to spend a few days of leave. What's going on?" Ashley said, "Bau is not supposed to take sides between the dalatrasses and the STG. But the Councilor is just a tool for the dalatrasses, so Bau came to me and here we are. I'm assigned to ride with you while you are pregnant? Are you?" "Yes, a human boy and a turian girl." "Twins? Geez, glad its not me." Cassidy laughed.

Liara's voice, "Cassidy, I think you should see this." "I'll be right up."

Cassidy went up to Liara's room. "Thanks to the financial wizardry of Barla Von, we have a trace of the funds used to pay Kirrahe's assassin. One of my agents on Sur'Kesh has evidence linking those funds to a 'fixer' in the Linron organization, of which Dalatrass Linron is the head. We need to get that evidence off of Sur'Kesh and to the Council." Cassidy said, "Can you get hold of Kasumi?" Liara nodded, "What do you want to say?" "Invite her to breakfast on Thessia - someplace you know, Liara."

Cassidy asked, "EDI, where is Jondam?" "He is in the game lounge, Admiral." Cassidy went to the game lounge.

Jondam was watching Solana, Thane, Karin and Carsel play bridge. Cassidy motioned Jondam over to the window. She said, "The funds to hire Kirrahe's assassin have been traced. There is evidence on Sur'Kesh linking the funds to Linron." Jondam said, "Hmm, so that evidence needs to get to the Council." Cassidy said, "Think you can work with Kasumi?" "But she . . . of course, that was just for show. Yes, her case is closed and I can work with her 'protege'." Cassidy said, "Liara's going to meet Kasumi on Thessia in a few hours, assuming Kasumi can get there."

Jondam asked, "Can you get a quiet word to the Shadow Broker, Admiral?" Cassidy said, "I can, yes." "Give him the name, 'Hillet Linron'. I have reason to believe that she does not toe the Linron line. She may be able to help." Cassidy said, "As soon as I can. In the meantime, I'll check with Liara to see if Kasumi can make the meeting." Cassidy left and went back to Liara's room.

Cassidy said, "Any word from Kasumi?" "She's taking a ship to Thessia now." "Good. Does the name Hillet Linron mean anything to you?" Liara punched the name into her system search. "Mid-level manager, nothing notable in her reviews." "Jondam thinks she'll help." "Hmm. I'll have a different agent of mine test the waters. I'll let you know."

Cassidy got a text from Garrus, "Meet me in the mess hall for dessert? EDI is sitting with the kids." Cassidy texted back "Going there now."

Cassidy joined Garrus at a table and Rafa brought two bowls of dessert. Rafa said, "We now put your things on purple plates and bowls, Admiral." Cassidy smiled, "Thank you, Rafa."

Cassidy explained what was going on. Garrus asked, "So, you're thinking we may sneak Jondam and Kasumi into and out of the salarian home system?" Cassidy replied, "Maybe. Kasumi and Jondam will know the options better." Garrus cautioned, "I'm sure we had best not get caught anywhere near Sur'Kesh." "I completely agree."

Cassidy said, "I'm going to grab a few hours sleep." "Good idea."

-end day 58

Liara and Kasumi met for breakfast, then Liara (and Kasumi) came aboard. Cassidy met the shuttle. Cassidy hugged Kasumi. Kasumi said, "Ooh, I haven't had this much fun since getting things from Cerberus for the Crucible." Cassidy walked with Kasumi to the conference room. Liara said, "I'll go check my messages."

Cassidy said, "Are you OK with working with Jondam?" Kasumi, "He's not planning to arrest me, right?" Cassidy reassured her, "Nope, no arrests." Kasumi, "Alright then, bring him in." EDI said, "He is on his way."

Jondam came in. Cassidy said, "Our goal is to get evidence off of Sur'Kesh and to the Council." Kasumi said, "Who has the evidence?" EDI said, "Patching in the Shadow Broker." The Shadow Broker said, "One of my agents has obtained the evidence. He has not been compromised so far."

Jondam said, "There is a ship returning from Thessia to Sur'Kesh, due to depart in 2 hours 18 minutes. Getting there is not a problem. Getting out might be." Cassidy said, "Shadow Broker, could you get these two onto an STG vessel?" "Instructions will be forwarded to one of my agents on Sur'Kesh, who will get them to your agents." Cassidy said, "Then the STG vessel can either get to the Citadel directly or meet with us."

Kasumi said, "So, who's heading to Thessia next?" Cassidy said, "I want to take Wendy to the aquarium." Cassidy went to find Garrus.

Solana, Maklin, Cassidy, Wendy, Javik and Thane (and Kasumi and Jondam) took the shuttle to the aquarium. Wendy had a grand time pointing out all the fish she had seen on the extranet. She came back with a fish bowl with a school of teeny little fish inside.

–

Kasumi and Jondam nestled themselves between the crates of asari fruits, nuts, and cloth. Kasumi taught him to play backgammon on their omni-tools. Eventually the ship landed and they cloaked and left the ship among the dock workers unloading the ship.

They went to a nearby park and among a display of blooming flowers. Kasumi said, "I just sent the arrival signal. Let's sit and enjoy the view." Tweny minutes later, a pair of salarian boys came up the path, following their flying toy shuttle. One tried to grab the control from the other and the shuttle crashed. He apologized, then they started arguing again and went to pick up the pieces. They went off the way they had come, arguing the whole way.

Jondam said, "What's that?" Kasumi picked up the small case and stowed it away. She said, "Let's get to a bar." Jondam said, "This way." Jondam led her in the back way to the store room of a rough bar that catered to dock workers. Kasumi opened the case and found an OSD inside. She put the contents on her omni-tool. She said, "This is a key and an address." Jondam said, "Let me see, this address is not too far. We can take a bus."

They took the bus and Jondam (and Kasumi) got off and went to the address. Jondam waited outside while Kasumi went in. She came back out a few minutes later. "Got it. Now we go to this link." Jondam checked the extranet site, "Hmm there's a sale on shoes. I could use some new shoes." They went out and found a cab and went to the shoe shop.

Jondam (and Kasumi) went inside the shoe shop. Jondam asked, "Do you have any of the B185s in red, as advertised?" The sales clerk said, "I will go back and check." A few minutes went by and the clerk did not come back out. A cab arrived at the front door and a salarian came in, "Pick up, this address?" Jondam said, "That would be me and my associate." They got into the cab.

Once inside, the cabbie said to Jondam, "Verify ID, sir. Hand, please." Jondam put his hand up to the scanner. "Very good. Strap in." The cab boosted speed and headed away from the city. After 40 minutes, they started coming down to an STG base.

They were met by armed STG guards. One came forward, "Greetings, Spectre. I am Major Eldren. We are happy to assist in your mission. Unfortunately, the dalatrasses have blockaded the mass relay. We can get off planet but to approach the mass relay is problematic." Kasumi said, "Any problem if I send a shifting index code message over the FTL comm bouy?" Eldren said, "Come this way, we have a signal booster I will allow you to access."

–

Liara was in her room, monitoring the updates from her agents. Cassidy was sitting in the room with her. EDI said, "Message from Kasumi . . . decrypting . . . on your panel, Liara." Liara opened the message. She said, "Cassidy, the STG can't get to their relay. There are coordinates here that are outside the system. We would have to skirt the blockade like we did with the quarians." Cassidy said, "EDI, set those coordinates as our destination. Joker, we need to get beyond the salarian system. Let's make sure they never know we're there, in or out. EDI, send an ETA."

–

The comm officer said, "Coded message, sir. Forwarding." Kasumi said, "They're on their way. We need to get going. They'll probably get there before we do."

Major Eldren said, "The shuttle will have enough fuel to get to the next system. If they don't come, you can go and try again from there. Situation deteriorating here." Eldren turned to the pilot, "Stay with them, all the way to the Council." He pointed to two soldiers, "You two, go with them, all the way to the Council."

The three STG soldier, Jondam and Kasumi got on the shuttle. Eldren said, "May fortune favor us."

–

Joker said, "We're going to go black and hang out 'til that next ship to Sur'Kesh begins its jump. EDI is telling the relay to add our mass to theirs and we're going to slipstream them. When we arrive, the relay will light up once and the ship they are expecting to see will arrive. But so will we, off the screens." Cassidy said, "I leave it to you two."

15 minutes later, Joker's voice, "Going black. All internal power limited." The lights went on low. Cassidy looked at the relay, then out into the dark of space. Joker said, "Here they come. Punch it, EDI!" Cassidy saw the salarian ship for a moment before the jump.

When they arrived, Joker said, "I am so good! I pushed our drift to the outer edge, now we're way out from that ship and the relay. They should have no reason to look our way, Admiral." Cassidy said, "Push us above the ecliptic of the system and FTL us to those coordinates." "Aye, aye, Admiral."

Cassidy went to have dinner while they waited. Wendy said, "Mommy why are the lights low?" "To help hide us from the bad guys." Maklin asked, "Are the bad guys chasing us, ma'am?" Cassidy said, "No, they don't know we are here and that is how we want it to stay."

EDI said, "Admiral, if you will come to the bridge, I have updated information to show you." "On my way."

Cassidy got to the bridge. EDI said, "Just outside the system, there are two vessels on a trajectory for the next system. The farther one has the signatures of an STG shuttle. The closer one is Heltrile, one of the dalatrass families. The Heltrile ship is faster than the STG shuttle. They will close with the shuttle before the shuttle reaches the coordinates."

Cassidy said, "Can we get to the shuttle before they do?" EDI said, "Yes." Cassidy said, "Dizzy, get your shuttle up high. Alright EDI, we are going to get in front of them slow to just below their speed so they drift into our cargo bay, then we speed up and take them elsewhere." "Understood, Admiral. Receiving the STG shuttle in 13 minutes 47 seconds and counting." Cassidy said, "Steve, Dizzy prepare for an STG shuttle with our friends on board."

–

The STG pilot said, "Cargo bay! Just appeared right in front of us!" EDI's voice, "STG vessel, this is the Normandy, we are here to prevent you from contact with a Heltrile ship behind you. Maintain course and speed, we will adjust relative to you." Kasumi said, "EDI, you just made my day!"

EDI adjusted the Normandy so the STG shuttle came in under Dizzy's shuttle. The STG pilot docked the ship and EDI put up the cargo bay doors. On the bridge, Joker said, "Increasing speed and altering heading." Cassidy said, "Find us somewhere to hide while we dump our heat."

Cassidy went down to greet the newcomers. Kasumi said, "It was a piece of cake down there. The Shadow Broker's agents did their things." Jondam said, "The situation is deteriorating, quickly. We need to get that evidence to the Council." Cassidy said, "We are going to spend some time emptying our capacitors, while the Heltrile ship puzzles over what happened to you guys. EDI, direct these STG folk to rooms, please. I will see you all in the morning."

Cassidy went to Liara's room. Cassidy asked, "Anything new?" Liara said, "The dalatrasses have ordered all STG bases closed and all their ships grounded. STG has refused to surrender the bases. It looks like the opening scenes of civil war."

Cassidy went to the comm room and updated Hackett on the situation.

Cassidy put Wendy and Paktal to bed then went to bed herself, very tired. Garrus worried about her quietly as he read on his omni-tool on the couch.

In the wee hours of the night, EDI woke Cassidy and Garrus, "Admiral Hackett is on the QEC." Cassidy put on her fatigues. "EDI how much longer until our sinks are emptied?" "We have enough capacity now to get through the blockade, Admiral." Cassidy went to the comm room. "Cassidy, where are you currently?" "EDI, send him the coordinates, please." "Do they know you're there?" "Not that we can see, sir. We have 3 new guests and their shuttle. They have evidence that needs to get to the Council." "Get back to Thessia as soon as you can. Send the shuttle in from there. Battle has broken out on Sur'Kesh." "Aye, aye, sir."

She said, "Joker, we need to get out unseen, back to Thessia." "I'm going, I'm going." Cassidy went to the bridge, where EDI was moving the Normandy on a path back to the relay. Joker came and got in his chair. "Going black. Not that anyone would notice with the lights all down already."

When they got to the relay, Joker took them around so he could get a straight shot at speed. Soon they were heading into Thessia. Cassidy went to the cargo bay and wished Jondam and the 3 STG guys good luck. They got into the shuttle and eased out of the cargo bay and headed for the relay.

Cassidy went back up to get a few more hours of sleep before breakfast.


	93. Chapter 93

Chapter 93

When Cassidy woke, Karin was there at the bedside, running a scan. Cassidy asked, "What's going on?" Karin said, "Garrus asked me to look at you, he thought you were too tired for his comfort. We're going to have to cut back on the amount of dextro nutrition you take in. The dextro has crowded out too much of the storage, leaving you with not enough usable reserves. Which means that pulling an 18 hour day is going to leave you more tired than you should be the next day. I'll work with Samesh and Rafa to refine the ratio of dextro to levo." Karin got up and left.

Garrus came and sat on the bed next to her. He leaned down and kissed her, "You had me worried." Cassidy said, "We'll figure this out." Garrus got up, "Liara will be up soon with breakfast." Cassidy said, "Alright, I'll get up and into the shower."

Liara came in with their trays. She put the cat bowls down and Callista and Fred came running in. Liara petted them both. She said, "I think Fred's fur is getting more smooth. It doesn't feel as rough as it did." Cassidy said, "I think he escaped from the pet shop when the Reapers took the Citadel. He's probably been scavenging since then. He was too skinny. Now he's getting proper nutrients."

Liara went back to the couch. "The dalatrasses' forces took out the FTL comm bouys. The last info I have says the dalatrasses were trying to take the STG bases, but the STG were fairly efficiently taking the attacking forces down. The STG shuttle made it to the Citadel and Jondam Bau is in closed session with the 3 of the Councilors. The salarian councilor has been placed under house arrest pending the results of the inquiry."

Callista jumped up to Cassidy's lap and Fred went to Liara's. Liara asked, "If the Reapers had completed the cycle, which species do you think would have risen up on Earth?" "The great apes are fairly smart, so the chimpanzees and gorillas and orangutans might be next to develop. Dolphins, could also. The researchers where talking to the dolphins fairly extensively last I heard, before the Reapers. If the dolphins figured out how to get around on land, they probably wouldn't be too long in figuring out how to fly in the air, then how to go to space. Cats, maybe. They are good at problem solving, and like you said, they have an awareness of the beings around them."

Cassidy's omni-tool chirped. It was a message from Palaven, Corporal Kathera Tactus had arrived in Cipritine and was awaiting the Normandy. Cassidy said, "Joker, let's hop over to Palaven." "Hopping, Admiral." Cassidy sent an acknowledgment and an ETA.

Cassidy met the shuttle in the cargo bay. Garrus got out with Corporal Tactus, who saluted Cassidy. "Admiral Shepard Victus Vakarian, ma'am, Corporal Kathera Tactus, reporting for duty." Cassidy returned the salute, "At ease, Corporal. Welcome to the Normandy. Much of the crew are still on leave, which includes your childcare colleague and roommate, Petty Officer Zoe McAnally."

EDI said, "Admiral, you have a contact request from Admiral Hackett in the comm room." "On my way, EDI." Garrus said, "I'll introduce her around to those that are here."

Cassidy went to the comm room. Hackett's image came up. "Cassidy, where are you now?" "Over Palaven, sir." "The Council has issued an appearance order for Dalatrass Linron. The order has been received by a ship in their system, but there has been no response. The Linron assets have been been frozen, as have the assets for several other dalatrasses. I'll . . . Dr. T'Soni, you have something?"

Liara stepped into the comm room with Cassidy. "Admiral, I just received a report that five salarian ships registered to the Linron organization have left their system. One is reported arriving at Illium." Cassidy said, "If her funds are cut off, she might try to sell the ships to fund her disappearance." Hackett said, "Well, that is good news for STG. If she runs off stage, the dalatrasses' coalition will splinter. I'll pass on the news to Councilor Carter. Hackett out."

Cassidy blew out a sigh. Liara said, "You are anxious, Cassidy. What is troubling you?" Cassidy said, "I don't know. We're on leave, but we're not really. . . . If she does sell the ships, she would have to use a broker to shuffle the funds into a Terminus account. So, she has to deal with somebody in the Terminus. Five ships won't be enough to pay for protection and a place to hide from STG for very long. I think she's got something else going on. But it isn't . . . aargh, I don't know. Let me know if anything else pops." Cassidy went out to the elevator and down to the cargo bay.

For once, nobody was down there. Nobody playing ping pong or volleyball; nobody maintaining shuttles or weapons. Cassidy pulled out the mats and took off her boots and socks and rolled up her pant legs. She started doing her forms.

She was into the 2nd black belt form when Garrus came in, carrying two meal trays. He set them on a crate and pulled up a couple crates on either side to sit on. She finished the form, then said, "I missed lunch?" Garrus said, "Liara said you were needing something to to focus on, so I didn't disturb you. Feeling calmer?" She came over and sat across from Garrus and started on her lunch.

She replied, "Calmer? Sort of, I suppose. What if, well, what if the dalatrass didn't leave Council space. Joker, take us to Bekenstein." Garrus said, "You think she's hiding out on an empty colony, roughing it?" "We're going to look and see."

Cassidy was behind Joker when they came in toward Bekenstein, running black. There were no ships in orbit, so they did a passive scan of the surface. EDI said, "Admiral, I'm reading energy signatures near the cave system the troop was exploring during the Reaper attack." Cassidy said, "Thank you, EDI. Joker, put us over the caves. Steve, Dizzy get your teams loaded."

Ashley, Liara, Thane, Clowder and Lt Jackson were on one team. Garrus, Javik, Tork, EDI and Lt Van Atta were in the other team. She paced while the shuttles went down to the surface.

Cassidy heard Garrus' voice on the comm "Surrender, I am a Spectre, here for Dalatrass Linron. Weapons down." Cassidy heard a couple gunshots, a salarian scream of pain. Garrus' voice again, "Understand, we will use as much force as need be. Yes, your VI is under our control now. Weapons down."

Ashley's voice, "Don't even think about that. My sniper has a bead on the back of your head. I am also a Spectre. I suggest Dalatrass Linron come out peacefully if she wants all of you to live."

Dalatrass Linron came out with her hands up. "You have me cornered, I concede. My crew, put your hands up. What now, Spectres?" Garrus said, "I am taking you into custody to appear before the Council. Lt Van Atta, you may escort our guest to the shuttle." The dalatrass said, "My crew, get back on the ships and back to Sur'Kesh."

Cassidy was in the shuttle bay when the shuttles returned. Ashley and Garrus came out with the dalatrass between them. "Shepard, I should have known." snarled the dalatrass. Cassidy said, "You, Dalatrass, get to be the first to enjoy the hospitality of our new brig for a few hours. Jackson, Van Atta, see to our guest's security, please."

Cassidy went to the comm room to report. Carter said, "Nice work, Admiral. I will see you when you arrive to bring the dalatrass to the Citadel." Hackett said, "Come see me after that, Cassidy." "Aye, aye, sir. Normandy out."

Cassidy went to dinner with Garrus. Maklin asked, "Advisor, how many enemies did you take down?" Garrus said, "We only wounded one of the salarian guards, Maklin. That's all it took, once they saw that we had forces on either side of them." Wendy asked, "Daddy, what does 'wounded' mean?" Garrus said, "I shot the salarian, hurting him in his shoulder. He was bleeding, but he's still alive. His friends helped to fix his hurt."

When Cassidy put Wendy to bed later, Wendy asked, "Mommy, why did you stay up here?" Cassidy said, "I have to be extra careful because your brother and sister are growing inside me. So, Ashley went down instead of me." Wendy said, "How big are they? My little brother and sister." Cassidy said, "Still very tiny. When they get bigger you will be able to tell because my belly will have to stretch to hold them." Wendy said, "Like Aunt Gabby's belly?" "Yes, but even more because she is growing one." "And you are growing two?" "Yes. Now sleep. Goodnight Wendy. Goodnight Jenny."

Cassidy went in where Garrus was putting Paktal in his crib. Garrus turned and wrapped Cassidy in a hug. He put a hand on her butt and pulled her leg up against his hip. He said, "We have over an hour before we get to the Citadel." Cassidy reached a hand up under his crest and gently stroked the underside. He pulled in his breath. She said, "So we do." He kissed her deeply. They proceeded from there.

Cassidy and Garrus were getting dressed, in preparation for going to the Citadel. Garrus said, "Steve is coming to sit with the kids, while Dizzy takes us to the Citadel." Cassidy said, "OK." Garrus stood up and said, "Cassidy, remember when you read that ambassador's book about turian culture. " "Yes." "Did the book talk about 'castrills'?" "I don't remember. I was concentrating on your situation. But Liara said something about castrills. So, what's a castrill?"

Garrus said, "When I was out there today, I thought that there might come a time not far in our future, when I'll be sent out on a longer mission and you'll be here on Normandy. Such situations are common among turians. There's an accepted role for another adult to be there with one mate while the other is away, and even with both mates. That's the castrill. Sometimes, its just friendship, sometimes it extends into intimacy. I want you to think about who you would be most comfortable accepting comfort from."

Cassidy thought a moment, then said, "This might take me some time to get used to, Garrus. Among humans, that sort of behavior is not accepted, well friendship is, but intimacy not, though it does occur. Probably some of the 'friends' are really friends with benefits, they just don't admit it. I'm babbling, sorry. As to who I would be most comfortable with, well it would have to be a mutual thing, right? That person would have to be comfortable with us, right?"

Cassidy was thinking of Liara's remark about Thane. She thought about Thane making himself available to her, spending time with her. Garrus said, "You're thinking of someone. Is it Thane?" Cassidy said, "You've seen him around me, and noticed his interest?" Garrus said, "Drell have a similar role in their family structures. Is is okay with you if I explore the notion with him?"

Cassidy froze. Her vision grayed, her throat went dry, her heart rate went up, she fought to keep her biotic energy down. "Cassidy? Cassidy?! EDI, ask Dr Chakwas to come up here, now please."

Cassidy's vision came back and she found herself sitting on the floor, her back against the foot of the bed, her arms around her knees. Karin was next to her, having just given her a hypodermic something. "Cassidy? Are you with me now?" Cassidy said, "Yes, I hear you, Karin. Where's Garrus?" "I sent him to go with Ashley to deliver the dalatrass to the Citadel." "How long did I . . . ?" "About 20 minutes. How long were your other episodes?" "Not so long, I think."

Karin said, "Garrus said something about docking with the Philippines after he and Ashley get back. I'm messaging Dr Klein. How about you and I get some hot chocolate while we wait and Steve can come back up here." Cassidy said, "OK."

Karin and Cassidy were in the mess hall when Joker said, "The shuttle has returned from the Citadel, Admiral." "Dock us with the Philippines, then, Joker." "Aye, aye, ma'am."

Garrus came into the mess hall. Karin got up and motioned him to take her seat. Karin said, "I'll see you tomorrow, Cassidy."

Garrus sat down. "Cassidy, are you alright, now?" "I'm okay." "I'm sorry if I went too far too quickly with the castrill idea. We don't have to consider it at all if it makes you uncomfortable." Cassidy said, "No, I don't think it was the castrill idea. Maybe it was the idea of being without you. Honestly, I think having someone nearby could be not only comforting, but be a safety measure for the children as well. Let me just try to adjust to the idea." Garrus said, "So, do you want me to talk to Thane?" Cassidy said, "You can sound him out, see how acceptable it would be to him."

EDI said, "Dr Charles Klein requests permission to come aboard, Admiral." Cassidy said, "Permission granted." Garrus asked, "Should I go?" Cassidy said, "I'd rather you stay for this one, please." She reached out and took his hand in hers.

Klein came in to the mess hall and waved them down when they started to stand. Garrus moved to the side of the table so Klein could sit across from Cassidy. Klein said, "Admiral Hackett is expecting you for breakfast. So, another episode. What was going on right before?" Cassidy said, "Garrus and I were discussing family contingency plans." Klein asked, "When did you two last have sex?" Cassidy said, "Just before the family plan conversation."

Klein said, "So, you were having a "we are together" moment, then you were discussing what if you're not together for whatever reason. The juxtaposition sounds like a threat to your personal emotional security. What do you think?" Garrus said, "That's what she said to me, that it wasn't the specifics of our conversation, but perhaps the idea of me being gone that triggered this episode." Klein asked, "Do you concur, Cassidy?" Cassidy said, "Yes, that feels right to me."

Klein said, "Advisor, would you mind leaving us at this point?" Garrus said, "I'll be up with the kids." Garrus left.

Klein said, "Kids? Melanie's at school, and I know about Wendy. Is there now another?" Cassidy said, "Paktal is a boy turian baby. He's teething, but otherwise he's a fairly placid baby. And we now have two on the way, a human boy and a turian girl." Klein said, "So, you have a lot riding on you and your relationship now. No wonder your psyche freaked." Cassidy laughed.

Klein smiled, "That's better. Go get some sleep. We'll talk after Hackett is done with you tomorrow morning." Klein got up and Cassidy walked him back to the gangway. She said goodnight and went back up to the cabin for the night.


	94. Chapter 94

Chapter 94

Cassidy arrived at Hackett's quarters. Hackett said, "Cassidy come in, make yourself comfortable." They sat across from each other on the sofas. "The salarians have declared a state of no confidence. All the dalatrasses that aren't being criminally prosecuted are forcibly retired. The STG has veto power over the selections for new dalatrasses." Cassidy said, "That was quick. But that's how they are." "Jondam Bau says you are the unsung hero in this, right up there with the Silent Step." "I couldn't have done anything without my ship and crew."

The breakfast cart was brought in and Cassidy and Hackett went up to make their choices. "Cassidy, if you have no plans for the remaining few days of leave, I want to request that you stay here, docked with us I am going to rotate out a significant portion of the crew of the Iowa. I would like you to work with Captain Pasciullo to help her in the transition from VI to AI. Congregation will do the bulk of the work on the transition. I hope EDI will help. Oh, yesterday, I sent your mother and the Selk'nam off to Arcturus to form a command center for the rebuilding of the Arcturus Station."

Cassidy replied, "I'll be happy to help Captain Pasciullo, and I'm sure EDI will be happy to help as well. There are also family things to do." "Good, I'll let Pasciullo know to expect you later today. Let Congregation know when you plan to go and he can accompany you." They finished breakfast and Cassidy took her leave.

Cassidy asked, "Chesa, where can I find Dr Klein?" "One moment please, Admiral. . . . Dr Klein says he will meet you in the exercise area." Cassidy went to meet Klein.

Klein and Cassidy took the outer lane of the track and walked. Klein asked, "What do you see yourself doing, career-wise?" "The Council wants to use me for diplomatic missions. I imagine I'll need to speak from time to time with the Leviathans, with Aria, add my voice to this or that side of issues. So, I guess beside opening up relays, that's it." "Don't you see yourself taking over for Carter or Hackett?" "Unless the Council can find someone else they can agree to take control of the Normandy, I'm staying. Joker and EDI are at home there and so is Dr T'Soni. So, I think its a good place to call home. I may even add on a deck for a pool and such." "Hmm."

They did a few more laps, talking about Usyk then the salarians. When Klein dismissed her, she contacted Captain Pasciullo and arranged to have lunch on the Iowa with her. She decided to head for the garden. She sent a message to Juran, "If you can get some break time before lunch, please come see me in the garden. I want to chat about the adoption scheduling." Juran sent back, "See you in about an hour?" Cassidy sent, "OK, an hour."

Cassidy got on the net to do some research for her decisions about the new AI. She was making notes when she saw Juran approaching. He took a seat across from her at the table. "Its quite pleasant in here, Admiral. I can see why you chose to work here." Cassidy asked, "Would you rather do the adoption sooner or later? Garrus, Solana and I could go with you to the Citadel this evening and we could do it over dinner with Garvin. Or, if you'd rather wait, we can put this off until after the Normandy's next mission."

Juran said, "There's a music night tonight after dinner, Admiral. Tarin's looking forward to karaoke time with Anita. If we can get back in time for that, I'd rather get it done rather than having it hang out there for 'sometime'." Cassidy said, "Dinner on the Citadel, adoption ceremony there, then music night here on the ship. OK, I'll spread the word. And since you're going to be my brother-in-law, you can call me 'Cassidy'." Juran said, "Alright. It will take some getting used to, um, Cassidy." She smiled and said, "I'll see you later then, Juran." Juran stood and went back to work.

Cassidy sent a comm request to Garvin. "Your request has been logged, Admiral. The Executor is in a meeting and he will return you call." Cassidy pulled up the list of restaurants on the Citadel and she was pleased to see that The Intersection had re-opened. Garvin's comm came in, "Cassidy, you called?" "Hello father. We can do the adoption over dinner today. The Intersection is open." Garvin said, "I'll make the reservation. How many?" Cassidy said, "Juran, you, me, Garrus, Solana, Milin, Tarin, the officiator, Melanie, Wendy, Maklin. So, eleven." Garvin said, "Eleven. I will take care of everything from here, Cassidy. See you for dinner. Vakarian out."

Cassidy boarded the shuttle and Congregation, Clowder and EDI all got on with her. Cassidy said, "Many hands make light work?" EDI said, "Yes, Admiral. With our assistance, the build for new AI will go much faster." Dizzy took them out to the Iowa. They docked and the door opened. Cassidy said, "Captain, I am Admiral Cassidy Shepard Victus Vakarian. This is Congregation, Clowder and EDI. Congregation is assigned aboard the Philippines. Clowder and EDI are part of my crew on the Normandy. Permission to come aboard?" "Admiral, I am Captain Lisa Pasciullo. Permission granted to come aboard, Admiral Please make yourselves at home." Cassidy said, "Lisa, please call me Cassidy."

Congregation, Clowder and EDI went off to the server room. Cassidy followed Lisa to the captain's quarters, where lunch was laid out. Lisa asked, "So, why switch away from the VI? It has served us admirably and it is very familiar to us. I suppose that's why Admiral Hackett ordered the upgrade now, when the crew is rotating, fewer people to notice a change."

Cassidy took a bite of the fresh cantaloupe, "Mm, let me appreciate the fresh fruit here for a moment. Lisa, EDI is truly a part of my crew. She can reason and implement solutions, she can anticipate situations, can adapt to fluctuating conditions. She learns and is friends with us." "I, well you know how a captain becomes attuned to the ship. Won't the AI take that away?" "Think of it as your relationship with the ship getting deeper. She will be able to speak to you with much more info for you."

Lisa asked, "What are you going to name her?" "I was thinking of 'Ruth' for Ruth Baxton Sayre." Lisa looked up the name. " 'First Lady of the Farm'. Well, that's apropos. Will the voice change?" Cassidy said, "Yes. I was thinking of Donna Reed, of "Its a Wonderful Life" fame. She was born in Iowa." Lisa said, "I've never seen the film, though my roommate at Academy said it was something her family watched every Christmas. Let me listen to a scene with her in it . . . yes, I think that will work."

They finished lunch. Lisa asked, "Admiral, sorry, Cassidy, why are you here? Why aren't you out knocking some mercenary heads off or such?" Cassidy said, "We have pirate hunters, not to worry. I'm doing diplomacy and other less risky missions these days. I'm carrying twins at the moment." "Congratulations, that's exciting. Admiral Hackett has lifted the fraternization ban and designated the ag ships, among others, as family friendly, so I'm considering my family options. I haven't met the right guy yet, but well, I'm not getting any younger. Maybe I'll start the kids first, find a dad for them later."

Cassidy said, "Lisa, there's music night tonight on the Philippines. You should come." Lisa said, "I don't know too many people over there." Cassidy said, "I'll be there, so you can come sit with me until you meet some new friends."

EDI's voice came on Cassidy's omni-tool, "Admiral, if you and the captain would like to come observe our work, we are finishing now." Cassidy looked at Lisa, who nodded. Cassidy said, "EDI, we are coming. Thank you." Lisa led Cassidy to the server room, which had been enlarged and was full of equipment now. Lisa said, "Wow, is this all necessary?" Cassidy said, "She will probably ask for upgrades as they become available, but yes, she is going to need the processing power."

Congregation asked, "What is her name, Admiral?" Cassidy said, "Her name is Ruth. She will use Donna Reed's voice." Clowder said, "We are transferring personality matrix files, Admiral." EDI said, "Captain, you have a irrigation head on Deck 8 that has broken off, hitting a crew person. The emergency valves on either side have closed and and the med team is responding to the injury." Lisa said, "I will go see to that. Cassidy, I'll be back here when that's taken care of. Please excuse me."

Cassidy took the time to check her messages. One from Garvin said, "Juran's adoption, The Intersection, 1800." She saw Garrus, Solana and Juran on the recipient list.

Congregation mounted a camera on the wall, then a voice came on, "That's better. . . . Hello, Admiral. I am Ruth." Cassidy said, "Hello Ruth. How are things going on Deck 8?" "Captain Pasciullo is there, directing Petty Officer Branson on the repair procedure. Now Captain Pasciullo is heading for the elevator." Cassidy said, "Ruth, wait until she gets here before you introduce yourself."

A few minutes later, Lisa returned. "Where are we in the procedure, Cassidy?" Cassidy said, "Ruth, go ahead and introduce yourself." "Hello, Captain Pasciullo. I am Ruth." Lisa said, "Hello Ruth." Ruth said, "Dr Yeager reports that Seaman Jefferson's injury is minor and has been treated. He is returning to duty. Admiral, Kiepja says to pass on Admiral Krueger Victus' regards. Evette says hello and so does Captain Yaniss." Cassidy said, "Please convey my regards in return to Kiepja and Evette, Admiral Krueger Victus and Captain Yaniss."

Congregation asked, "Captain, would you like us to assign a geth to your crew?" Lisa said, "What other geth are assigned in Alliance vessels, besides yourselves, Congregation and Clowder?" Cassidy said, "Faculty is aboard the Selk'nam, Phalanx is assigned to the Alliance Embassy on the Citadel, Pack is working in Spectre Requisitions. Has Captain Yaniss added a geth to his crew, Congregation?" "Yes, Admiral. Index is assigned aboard the Baton Rouge." Lisa said, "Alright then. When will the new geth be ready?" Congregation said, "Gathering will report to you tomorrow morning, Captain."

Cassidy said, "Captain, is there anything more we can do for you at this time?" Lisa said, "Nothing I can think of, thank you, Cassidy, Congregation, Clowder and EDI." Ruth said, "I can continue my conversation with you all remotely." Cassidy said, "Then, Captain, we will take our leave." Lisa said, "I'll walk you to the shuttle bay."

On the way back, Dizzy said, "I'm going to MC karaoke night tonight. Coming, Admiral?" Cassidy said, "I'm planning on it, Dizzy."

Cassidy got off the shuttle onto the Normandy. EDI said, "The Advisor is with Wendy and Lt Norquist at the greenhouse on Deck 3." "Thank you, EDI."

Cassidy went to Deck 3. Garrus, with Paktal in the carrier on Garrus' back, was watching Lt Norquist and Wendy as they watered the seed beds and talked about flowers. Cassidy came over and Garrus gathered her in his arms. He kissed her hair and quietly said, "I missed you." Louder he said, "Lt Norquist came aboard just after lunch. When he saw me and Wendy come to the greenhouse, he told us about his interest in flower cultivation and offered to help."

Cassidy told them about her time over on the Iowa. Wendy asked, "Mommy, is Ruth like EDI?" "Yes, Wendy, except Ruth doesn't have a platform to walk around in." EDI's voice, "That is likely to change, Admiral. Admiral Hackett believes that funds will be available soon to construct one platform similar to mine with modifications I have suggested. Evette will get to use this platform and test it. Over time, we hope to be able to give all of our AIs platforms to use."

Paktal let out a wail. Cassidy said, "Come on Wendy, I need to get you upstairs to get cleaned up and changed before dinner. You've got dirt on your hands and face and clothes." "OK, Mommy. Bye, Emory!" Cassidy and Garrus took Wendy and Paktal upstairs. Cassidy helped Wendy while Garrus dealt with Paktal. Cassidy said, "There's music and dancing tonight on the Philippines. Do you want to go?" "Sure, but we'll have to see who will be willing to stay with these two."

Steve's voice on the comm, "Admiral, I have Commander Arterius, Captain Woo, Solana, Milin, Maklin and Melanie. We'll be docking for you shortly." Cassidy said, "We're coming down." Cassidy put Paktal in Garrus' carrier and took Wendy's hand. They went down to the cargo bay where Steve's shuttle was coming in. They boarded and Steve took them over to the Citadel and directly to the restaurant, which now had a shuttle landing pad on its roof.

The maitre'd led them to a private room. Garvin and Councilor Sparatus were there already. Garvin said, "Councilor, this is Commander Juran Arterius." Sparatus said, "Pleased to meet you, Commander. Executor, would you like to do the ceremony now?" Garvin said, "I see our server is ready to take our orders. Let's order then do the ceremony." They sat down and looked over the menus while the server poured water and placed red and blue baskets of bread at intervals on the table. The server took their orders and left.

Sparatus got up and Garvin motioned Juran to come up with him.

Sparatus asked, "Commander Juran Arterius, do you affirm that you are now without family?" Juran said, "Yes, sir. I lost them all to the Reapers. I am the sole survivor, I so affirm."

Sparatus asked, "Executor Garvin Vakarian, do you accept Commander Juran Arterius as a son?" Garvin said, "Commander Juran Arterius, I accept you as my son, and will strive to guide you and protect you with honor and responsibility to our family and our people."

Sparatus asked, "Commander, do you accept Executor Garvin Vakarian as your father?" Juran said, "Executor Garvin Vakarian, I accept you as my father. I will strive to learn from you and support you with honor and responsibility to our family and our people."

Solana got up and painted the Vakarian pattern on Juran's face. Cassidy led the applause.

Their dinners came and they had a pleasant conversation. Sparatus sat next to Wendy and answered her endless questions very patiently. Cassidy smiled. Looking at the creases around Sparatus' eyes, Cassidy thought the war had taken a personal toll on him, but the silver lining was that he was easier to bear now.

Sparatus noticed that Cassidy had some of the dextro food on her plate. He asked, "Admiral, how is it that you are partaking of dextro foods now?" Garrus answered him, "She is carrying two, a human son and a turian daughter. The dextro is to support young Savena." Garvin looked up and said, "You hadn't told me you were naming her for your mother." Cassidy said, "I'm sorry, father. I thought Solana had said something. We should have informed you ourselves.

Sparatus said, "Congratulations, Admiral, Advisor. I hope your time carrying is healthy and as stress free as we can make it."

When the desserts were nothing but crumbs, Juran said, "We are heading back to the Philippines for music night, sir. You are welcome to join us." Garvin said, "I don't think I want to the be the old man in the room, but thank you, Juran. You all enjoy yourselves."

Steve brought the shuttle and they all boarded. Liara and Javik volunteered to stay with the kids for the evening. Cassidy, Garrus and Solana got off on the Normandy to take the kids up to the cabin where Liara and Javik took over. On the way down, Cassidy looked in on the mess hall and saw that Ken and Gabby had returned. At another table Lt Norquist was eating with Karin and Carsel. Corporal Tactus was sitting with Lt Van Atta and Lt Jackson.


	95. Chapter 95

Chapter 95

They got back on the shuttle and went to the Philippines and over to the music lounge. Cassidy saw Anita and Lee. Tarin and Juran joined their table. Cassidy led Garrus, Solana and Milin over to a table next to them. Dizzy started the evening by announcing the karaoke singers. After a few karaoke songs, Dizzy announced a dance. Garrus took Cassidy onto the dance floor.

Steve was alone at a table with his drink, watching Cassidy and Garrus, tapping his foot to the music. Norquist came by, "Mind if I join you, Cortez?" Steve said, "You are welcome to sit if you like. Had enough talk of medicine for the evening?" Norquist said, "More than enough for one night. I'll have plenty of time to pick the turian doctor's brain, though. She's going to be with us until the Admiral delivers her turian daughter."

Steve said, "Are there no pretty young med techs to catch your eye for a dance?" Norquist joked, "None of the med techs meet my exacting standards." Steve said, "With your head in medical texts so much, how do you get to know anyone to tell if they are up to your specs?" Norquist said, "One could maybe ask you the same about keeping your head in the engines and arms."

Steve said, "How is it that you have noticed my time sinks?" Norquist replied, "I've come down a few times, to see if I could talk to you, invite you to play ping pong or something. You're always head down over something mechanical."

Steve asked, "Where did you go on your leave?" Norquist said, "Terra Nova. My family is there. I'm the oldest kid of 3. My sister is pregnant with her second. My brother just got engaged to a pretty med tech girl. Saw an ex, working as a barista." "You and your ex friendly?" "He broke it off. I buried myself in my job. We're at the stage where we can say hello, that's about it."

The dance ended and the karaoke began again. Steve listened to the singers, got another drink and wondered if he was ready. He could hear Robert's last line again. He watched Norquist watching the singers, laughing at the appropriate points in the comic song.

Dizzy got them through the next few karaoke singers, then announced the second dance. Thane asked Cassidy and Garrus motioned her up, nodding his approval. Thane said, "I had an interesting conversation with Garrus this morning." Cassidy said, "I can imagine." Thane said, "You tensed up. You do not approve?" Cassidy said, "No, its just that I've never considered such a thing before. I think it a good idea on the face of it. I just don't know the steps to that dance, so to speak." Thane spun her then pulled her close again. "Why did Garrus come to me?" Cassidy said, "We have noticed your interest. Garrus said that drell have a similar family position as well." Thane said, "We do. I was remiss in that I did not arrange for a castrill with Irikah. It would have eased our relationship with each other and increased her security."

When the second dance was announced, Steve pushed himself, "Emory, would you care to dance?" "Yes, thank you." Steve led Emory out onto the dance floor and took his hand and waist and started dancing. Steve said, "Before you ask, I was married. Robert died in a Collector attack. The Admiral helped me when I wasn't sure I wanted to live. She's a good friend. Her human son has my genes, too." "I didn't know that. We haven't gone into the Admiral's med file. Chakwas and Grixen are keeping that one close to the chest." "Well, now you know. Anyway, Robert was all the family I had. My folks are gone. I have no sibs." Steve spun Emory out and pulled him in. Emory said, "My sister's first child is a boy, Dallas, after our maternal grandfather. He's two and all monkey - climbs everything. I treated a cut on his head day before yesterday."

Tarin was dancing with Juran. Juran said, "Tarin, you said today at lunch that you want children. How are you thinking that might happen if we . . ?" Tarin said, "There's adoption, or donated genetic material, or surrogacy. We would have to figure out what we want. You do want children, don't you?" "Yes, Tarin, I do." "Then, Juran, what are we waiting for? Will you marry me?" "Yes, Tarin, I want to be your mate." The song ended and the music faded away. Tarin kissed Juran briefly, then raised his hand up in hers and shouted "HE SAID YES!" Applause all around. Dizzy said, "Congratulations to Captain Tarin Woo and Commander Juran Arterius. You go, girl!" Tarin said, "That's Commander Juran Arterius Vakarian now!"

Thane and Cassidy returned to the table where Garrus was talking to Solana and Milin. Cassidy congratulated Tarin and Juran while the next set of karaoke singers performed. Cassidy saw Captain Lisa Pasciullo come in and look around. Cassidy waved her over and introduced her around.

Lisa said, "This is my first time coming to one of these. It looks like folks are enjoying themselves." Cassidy sent a message asking Tarin to set Lisa up for the next dance. Tarin got the message and signaled OK back at Cassidy. A few minutes later, a tall marine came over and greeted Tarin. Tarin introduced him around as Major Lance Lognberg, recently transferred to the Philippines.

The Major said to Cassidy, "I was sorry to hear about the events leading up to to Usyk's demise, Admiral. I hope Petty Officer Schwartz is okay." Cassidy said, "The doctors, with the help of our geth and engineers, were able to keep her with us, Major. She is currently on leave."

Dizzy announced the next dance. Garrus took Cassidy's hand. Lognberg said, "Captain Pasciullo, will you allow me the privilege of this dance?" Lisa said, "Very prettily said. Yes, Major Lognberg, I accept." Tarin smiled at Cassidy.

Garrus held Cassidy close on the dance floor. He asked, "Why did you get Tarin to set the Captain up?" Cassidy said, "The Captain is a bit shy and she's making an effort to get out and meet people on my advice. I want to make sure she has some success." "My diplomat of a mate." Cassidy said, "No need to emphasize it. Its going to be hard enough not using any biotics, not going on missions and not drinking." Garrus kissed her head.

At the end of the evening, Cassidy was tired. She let Garrus lead her back to the Normandy. She slept deeply.

The next morning, Cassidy had a message from Lisa. "Cassidy. The geth, Gathering, arrived and is getting aquainted with our operations. Thank you for easing me into the music night. I'm going to see Lognberg again. He seemed nice on first inspection."

Cassidy messaged Solana, "Want to do lunch on the Citadel, just you and me? (and my security)". Solana accepted.

Dizzy took them over. Cassidy chose the sushi place this time.

Solana said, "I had a good time last night. Milin dances very well." Cassidy asked, "Did your parents have a castrill?" Solana said, "Yes. His name was Kerden. He died in a traffic accident around the time mother was starting to have bad days more often. That was that first year you were thought dead and Garrus stopped talking to us. Kerden's death forced father to take leave and trade off time with me to care for her. He was a sweet man, dedicated to mother. He was good to Garrus and me."

Solana looked at Cassidy, "Is Garrus suggesting a castrill for you two?" Cassidy said, "We are considering it." Solana said, "Meaning you are not sure about it." Cassidy said "Essentially, yes." Solana said, "Garrus worries about you. I know it will ease his mind if you can accept the idea. I take it humans don't have such a thing?" Cassidy said, "Not in an accepted way. Sometimes there will be a friend of the family, or a bodyguard, or a personal assistant, that ends up filling that role. But since its not accepted, such things are kept quiet and when they're found out, trust is betrayed, marriages crumble. At least that's the stuff that makes the news."

Solana said, "So, you're trying to deal with a cultural thing." Cassidy said, "Looks that way." Solana nodded in thought. She said, "Not all castrills are intimate. You could keep yours friendly." Cassidy said, "That's part of my issue. I know I wouldn't be able to resist for long if I was the only one of the three saying no. That feels like cheating to me, makes me feel guilty." Solana said, "I can tell you that Garrus will in no way feel threatened. Cheating for turians involves an emotional investment outside the family, occurs very rarely."

After lunch, Cassidy checked with Avina about her apartment building. Avina said, "Spectre Shepard Victus Vakarian, you have a notification that your apartment is habitable and secured with a biometric lock, keyed to you. You may occupy it at your convenience." Solana said, "Its a perfect opportunity, Cassidy. Its our last night of leave. You could go to the apartment and invite them over, get things straightened out between you. I'll take care of Wendy and Paktal until you get back tomorrow." Cassidy said, "OK, I'll have the car drop me at the apartment then you at the shuttle. Thank you, Solana."

The car dropped Cassidy at Tiberius Tower and Cassidy went into the apartment. The paintings were missing, but otherwise it was as she had left it. She started the fire and sat on the coffee table and stared at it for a bit. Cassidy screwed up her resolve and sent a comm request to Garrus. "Cassidy, is that the apartment on the Citadel behind you?" "It is. I had a chat with Solana at lunch. She suggested I spend the night here. I'll leave it up to you whether you want to bring Thane or not. Pack me a small bag for the night please." Garrus said, "We will come. I love you. See you soon."

Cassidy sent a comm request to her mom. "Cassidy! Good to hear from you! Where are you?" "My newly rebuilt apartment on the Citadel." "Looks nice. What's up?" Cassidy said, "Nothing really. Garvin adopted Juran Arterius as his son. Juran and Tarin got engaged. Last night of leave. Tomorrow night we'll probably be heading to reactivate another relay." "I'll send my congratulations to Tarin and Juran. Things here are quiet. The Arcturus station is getting started with the internal structures. Its going to be bigger than the previous one. I received your regards yesterday through Ruth and Kiepja. I need to get back to things here. Let me know when you get the next relay activated." "I will, Mom. Shepard Victus Vakarian out."

Cassidy surfed the extranet while she waited.

The door chime sounded. Cassidy went to the screen and saw that it was Garrus. She let him in. He came in and handed her a small duffel. He had a bigger duffel, which he set down. She said, "I thought you were bringing Thane." Garrus said, "He's running a couple of errands. He'll be here in a bit." Cassidy set her bag over on the kitchen counter.

Garrus came over with a shopping bag. "I brought stuff to make hot chocolate. I've got some flavorings to put in also, um, mint, vanilla, and raspberry. I also got some scones for you." He started the kettle and handed her a scone. She sat on a stool and started nibbling on the scone, which had blueberries in it. After a bit the water was ready. Garrus asked, "Which flavor?" Cassidy said, "Vanilla."

The door chimed. Garrus handed the mug to her and went to the screen. He admitted Thane and came back to the kitchen. He fixed a mug for himself. Thane came in with a duffel and a couple shopping bags, which he put down to the side of the door. He picked up one shopping bag and brought it to the refrigerator and started putting the contents inside, "I got us some things to snack on. What is it you have there?" Cassidy said, "Hot chocolate. I've got vanilla in mine." Thane finished with the bag, folded it up and put it away. He got another mug and prepared a mug for himself, putting mint in his.

Garrus pulled out a form. He signed and passed it to Thane, who signed it and passed it to Cassidy. Cassidy looked at it. It was a turian form, designating a castrill. Cassidy asked, "What legal standing does this give?" Garrus said, "It will give him rights to access either of us in hospital, for example, same as we have for each other, and vice versa. If both of us are unable to speak for ourselves, then he can speak for us, make decisions for the children, that sort of thing. On Illium, if Adrien had not come, I would really have appreciated having him be able to help with Melanie and Hannah while I looked for you." Cassidy signed the form.

Thane said, "I brought massage oil and a roller bar, if you would like a massage to relax, Cassidy." Cassidy said, "That sounds nice actually. There's a hot tub upstairs, but that's not good for the babies to be heated like that, so a massage sound good, yes." Thane said, "The ones you carry, there is a human son and a turian daughter, correct?" Garrus said, "Yes, Benjamin and Savena. Steve Cortez donated genetic material to make Benjamin and Rahana Victus donated for Savena."

Cassidy said, "Give me a couple minutes upstairs, then you can bring the massage stuff up there." Cassidy went up and found an extra sheet, which she put over the top of the bed, to take up any oil that dripped. Then she undressed and laid on her belly on the side of the bed with a towel over her butt.

Thane and Garrus came up. Garrus sat in a chair near her. "I'll be here, unless you want me to go. You have control here, love." Cassidy reached out and took his hand in hers. Thane removed his jacket and shoes. He brought the bottle of oil, the roller bar and another towel over and placed them on the bed. He climbed up and sat on the towel on her butt. He squeezed a little oil onto her shoulder and rubbed it into her skin with his hands, then he rolled the knots out of her muscles.

He worked on her shoulders, back, neck, and arms then transferred to her legs. She felt like a wet noodle by the time he finished with the soles of her feet. She said, "Wow, that feels wonderful! Thank you so much. I hadn't realized I was as stiff as that." Thane put the massage stuff away in the drawer next to the bed. He came back, "Siha, you can stay here and enjoy the relaxation as long as you like. We can get intimate or not, as you like."

Cassidy stood up. She looked at Garrus, "You are welcome to join in whenever the spirit moves you." She guided Thane to stand in front of her. She held his head, leaned in, and kissed him. His kiss was much like one of her early lovers and she felt the heat rise in her. She sent her tongue into his mouth and explored. He reciprocated. She guided his hand to her breast. He caressed her and rolled her nipple in his fingers.

Garrus got up and stood behind her. She felt Garrus' hand on the inside of her thigh, he brought it up to her center and dipped it in the wetness at her entrance. He brought a finger up to stroke her clit. She moaned. Garrus got Thane to go down to her clit and Cassidy felt Thane's tongue there. Her belly tightened and she cried out.

Garrus pulled her back and laid her on her back next to him. He licked her nipples, one then the other. She felt Thane's fingers go into her and stroke. Garrus kissed her and twined his tongue with hers.

Thane adjusted and put his cock at her entrance and pushed in, stroking while Garrus cupped her breast, licking behind her ear, breathing in her hair, then kissing her again. After awhile, they traded places and Garrus stroked her hard, Thane putting himself behind her so she didn't hit the headboard. Cassidy and Garrus came together. Cassidy tilted her head back and kissed Thane.

Cassidy leaned in and put her forehead up to Garrus' forehead. Thane kissed the back of her shoulders and got up and went to the shower. Garrus gently pushed Cassidy onto her back and laid up next to her. He pulled her close, "Content, my love?" Cassidy said, "Very".

Thane came out and said, "If we place an order for dinner, I will go out and pick it up." Cassidy pulled up her omni-tool and perused the possibilities. Cassidy saw an Italian place and said, "Lasagna sounds perfect to me." Garrus and Thane each looked up the menu. They collected their choices and Thane placed the order.

Cassidy got in the shower and got cleaned up. She dressed and went downstairs to the refrigerator and got some fruit to tide her over until dinner. She checked her messages and saw that Carter wanted a breakfast meeting with her. She replied that she would be there.


	96. Chapter 96

Chapter 96

Garrus came down and got a glass of water. Cassidy said, "I'm having breakfast with Councilor Carter in the morning." Garrus checked his messages, "I've got a message from Councilor Sparatus as well. He says we'll be eating with you two." Cassidy said, "Hmm, she could've mentioned that. Oh well."

Garrus said, "Father says he sees that you are occupying the apartment. He's wondering if he could take us to dinner." Cassidy said, "Would it be awkward to have him get some dinner and bring it here?" Garrus replied, "He's going to want to meet Thane as soon as he gets informed of the castrill notice. We might as well get it over with." Cassidy said, "You reply to Garvin, I'll message Thane and let him know what's going on."

Thane arrived before Garvin. Thane and Garrus got the dining room table ready. Cassidy got plates and silverware out and set the 4 places.

Garvin arrived. Garrus admitted him and brought him to the dining room. Cassidy touched foreheads with him. Garrus said, "Father, this is Thane Krios, our castrill." Garvin gave Garrus a sharp look, then shook hands with Thane. They got their food out of the take out containers and onto their plates. Cassidy took a small amount of Garrus' order. Thane asked "Is that why your plates are purple on the Normandy? Because there is dextro in with the levo?" Cassidy said, "Yes."

Garvin asked, "Thane, what is your profession?" Thane said, "I am part of the crew of the Normandy now. I used to be an agent for the Hanar Illuminated Primacy." Garvin asked, "Will I find your name in the Citadel records?" Thane said, "No sir. My work for the hanar earned me enemies. I use a different name here on the Citadel. Tanner Nuor." Garvin said, "I see. Yes, I see where the hanar granted you protection and took you back to Kahje. Why?" Thane said, "I had Kepral's Syndrome. I was taken to Kahje to participate in a clinical trial of a treatment. It was effective and gave my life back to me. I came back and re-joined the Normandy."

Garvin said, "So you were with the Normandy the first time when?" Cassidy said, "I recruited him to help us with the Collectors." Garvin pulled up some pictures on his omni-tool, "I thought I had seen you before. You were at their civil union ceremony. You are in some of Solana's pictures she sent me." Thane said, "Yes, sir, you are correct. I did attend their civil union ceremony." "Is Kolyat Krios a relation?" "My son, who is now on Kahje, preparing to take a mate."

Garrus said, "The Executor's job seems to suit you well, Father." "I am enjoying the challenge, Garrus. Are you heading out soon?" Cassidy said, "Unless the Council has something else for us, we'll be heading out to open another relay. Plans right now are to head out tomorrow evening, Father."

They finished dinner, Garvin asking about Solana's message about Juran and Tarin's engagement. As Garvin was leaving, he said, "Thane, what is said here is family business. I am father here, not Executor." Thane said, "Thank you, sir."

They pulled up a few episodes of Firefly. They watched, talked and snacked until Cassidy declared her need to sleep. Thane took the downstairs bedroom. Cassidy and Garrus retired to the master bedroom upstairs.

The next morning, Cassidy and Garrus got ready for their meeting. Thane said, "If you will message me when your meeting is complete, I will meet you at the shuttle afterward." Cassidy said, "Let me give you both access to the apartment, just a sec. There, you can come and go if you need to. The car is here, we should go."

Cassidy and Garrus went to the conference room, where Carter and Sparatus were filling plates at separate buffet tables. Cassidy and Garrus got plates and followed suit. Cassidy went to the dextro table and got small bits of each dish there.

They sat at the conference table. Carter asked, "What is your plan, now that the leave for your crew is ending?" Cassidy said, "If there is no higher priority, I want to go re-activate the relay leading to the Tip Tree colony." Sparatus asked, "How long will that take you?" Cassidy said, "EDI tells me that we will be in FTL for just over two weeks. Of course then there's chasing down the fragments of the rings and any issues that may exist on the colony. I'm estimating three weeks before the relay is open."

Sparatus said, "We have a situation that may need your touch, Admiral. We can use your mission time to delay things, let tempers cool, let ideas for compromise grow, as Tevos has recommended." Carter said, "If need be, we can contact you over the QEC."

Carter said, "The salarians have asked to once again have a representative on your crew, Admiral. Is there someone you would like?" Cassidy said, "Mordin Solus mentioned a nephew that was following in his footsteps. If he's not available, some other STG scientist. We'll work on a lab while we're out."

When they finished, Garrus and Cassidy met Thane at Steve's shuttle and went back to the Normandy.

Cassidy called Clowder to her office. Cassidy asked, "How long would it take to add another deck to the Normandy?" Clowder asked, "What facilities are planned for this deck?" Cassidy said, "I would like to move the game room to the new deck, put a scientific laboratory where the game room is now. I would also like to put in a swimming pool, a running track, some more crew quarters, and maybe some hydroponics units." Clowder said, "We will put together proposals for your consideration, Admiral. The geth can gather components while we are on mission. That will decrease the time necessary for construction once we return." "Thank you, Clowder."

The crew trickled back in from leave over the rest of the day. The galley was reprovisioned with levo supplies to go with the dextro supplies that had been restocked over Palaven. Lt Jackson brought in a new marine, Staff Sergeant Luther Zaremba, to return his team to a dozen.

Once everyone was on board, Cassidy said, "Joker begin our planned jump, please." "Jumping, Admiral." Cassidy got on the shipwide comm and gave the speech about FTL daily routines. She went up to the cabin where Garrus was sitting with the sleeping Wendy and Paktal.

Cassidy sat with Garrus and they watched a political comedy show. When it was time for bed, they climbed in and Garrus pulled Cassidy close. Cassidy said, "I'm glad that Thane is there to support us, but I'm happy to be here, with just you." Garrus said, "That is fine with me." He leaned over and kissed her. They slept contentedly.

–

Cassidy stood behind Joker as they came in to the mass relay. The past 16 days had passed calmly. The game room had been moved into the observation lounge and the lab space had been started. Wendy's flowers were growing well under Emory's helpful attention. Irene's pregnancy was beginning to show. Gabby had a stool installed at her engineering station to ease the strain on her back. Staff Sergeant Zaremba had joined the martial arts class. Cassidy had them nearly ready to advance to green belt. Wendy and Maklin were competing to learn their single digit addition and subtraction facts.

EDI queried the relay. She said, "Admiral, we need to acquire mineral resources. One of the pieces has been captured by a gas giant. Tip Tree did have mines of the composition we need operating before the Reapers came. There are a couple richer sources, but the surface conditions are too hot, even for synthetics. We could also scan the asteroid belts of the three systems and the various moons of the outer gas giants."

Cassidy said, "Let's do a survey scan of the asteroids and moons in this system we're in now. Prepare accessibility notes on each source you find." EDI replied, "Estimated time for survey is 19 hours, Admiral." Cassidy said, "Alright then, Joker, jump us to our first scan target. Garrus, get a team together. We are going to need to get out our mining equipment, check it, and get it loaded on the shuttles. No rush. Also check the vacuum environment suits." Garrus said, "Will do, Cassidy."

Cassidy asked, "EDI, any signals in this cluster?" "Nothing yet, Admiral" She went back to the daily routine of the ship.

Cassidy got up at 0540. She dressed and went to the bridge. EDI said, "The last asteroid is being scanned now, Admiral." Cassidy said, "Any promising sources in this system?" EDI said, "There are a few third tier sources, two on moons and one on the largest asteroid. Accessibility scores are low."

Cassidy said, "Let's collect whatever fragments are on the way to Tip Tree. We'll get them heading back to the relay while we check the mines on the planet." EDI said, "There are two fragments in our path, Admiral."

Cassidy looked on while the first fragment was found and turned around. Then she went to have breakfast with Liara. After teaching class, she came back up and watched over the second fragment's turn around.

Cassidy said, "Let's go to Tip Tree." Joker replied, "Jumping, Admiral." Cassidy asked, "How is your sister?" Joker said, "Hilary is on Earth, at that residential high school in London. I went down to see her a couple days before we left the Sol System. She wants to go to university to study logistics." Cassidy asked, "Why logistics?" "I don't know, she talks about things like organic queue theory and such."

They arrived at Tip Tree just before lunch. EDI conducted the scan during lunch. Cassidy came back to the bridge with Joker after lunch.

EDI said, "There is one farming community on the largest continent. There has been an intermittent signal repeating once a day, coming from the community. It has been too weak for me to get sense from it. In keeping with the observed broadcast pattern, it should repeat in 11 hours. The mines are on another continent on the opposite side of the planet." Cassidy said, "Put us over the mines. Garrus prep a team to go down and survey the mines, see what damage the Reapers did. Its currently night down there, so plan accordingly."

The team came back up for dinner. Garrus reported, "The Reapers blasted the main entrance to the southernmost mine on their way out. We did a ground scan and found a secondary entrance. The refinery is slag. The central mine is in similar condition, we have not yet found an other entrances. The northern mine is on the surface, with places where you can see the mining company planned to put tunnels. I suggest we begin with whatever exposed mineral remains on the surface of the northern mine, then head into the southern mine and see what can be done there."

Cassidy said, "Sounds good. After dinner take the team down and set up at the northern mine. Assign shifts to work, no more than 4 hours at a time." "We will get a start down there."

Lt Van Atta was supervising the next shift. Cassidy and Garrus were sleeping. EDI woke Cassidy with a tone on the comm panel. "Admiral, you asked me to wake you when the community broadcast again. I have just received the message." Cassidy put her earpiece in, "Alright, play the message."

A girl's voice . . . "If anyone is up there, please help. I'm only 12 and they have guns. The Prophet kills people that don't go along with him. I don't want to get married. I hope somebody out there comes and finds us soon."

Cassidy said, "EDI, how many repetitions of this message have you detected?" "I have picked up 4 repetitions, but there may have been others earlier that had degraded too much for detection." Cassidy asked, "Where are they in their day / night cycle?" "For them, it is 0106." "Bring the mining crew up. Wake Ashley, Liara, Javik, Thane, Tork, Lt Jackson, Dr Chakwas and I want Clowder, too. They are to meet me in the mess hall. Wake Zoe and send her up here."

Cassidy woke Garrus. He asked, "What's going on? Something happen to the mining crew?" Cassidy said, "No, we're planning a rescue operation."

Down in the mess hall, Samesh was up and passing out caffeinated drinks. Everyone was there when Cassidy and Garrus arrived. Cassidy played the message for them. Ashley, Karin and Lt Jackson all got scowls on their faces as they listened. Liara said, "Yes, this is worrisome, but some of are reacting more that I would expect. What is so distressing to you? It looks like a human thing?"

Cassidy said, "Every once in a while a person gathers followers and runs a community, we call such a community a cult. The leader usually is charismatic and gets the followers to give him all sorts of privileges and power. He often keeps a stockpile of weapon to fend off 'unbelievers', but in the end uses them on the followers and himself to 'send them to heaven'. One of the most infamous of these was Jim Jones who got 909 of his followers to drink poisoned sweet drinks."

Cassidy continued, "This one appears to have statutory rape as one of the leaders' perks. The goal, is to have all the people separated from the weapons, all the youth separated from the others, any hostiles subdued and restrained. Do not shoot to kill unless absolutely necessary. Do not tolerate hostage takers, let the snipers take care of those. EDI, you will accompany them to take over any VI.

Cassidy said, "Odds are that the leader has been telling these folk that anyone that comes is working under Reaper control and is there to put them under control. So, they will try to resist. Take plenty of restraints. Now, Garrus will be in charge and the rest of the plan is up to him. Ashley you will lead a second team, still under his command."

Thane said, "Perhaps we could use tranquilizer darts for ammo? Would that do harm to any pregnant girls down there?" Karin said, "Its better than the girls running away and starving or otherwise hurting themselves."

Garrus said, "Anyone using a sniper rifle or a pistol will use tranquilizer darts. EDI, please give us a tactical view of the compound."

Over the next half hour, Garrus and Ashley worked out a plan to infiltrate and tranquilize the population, that EDI estimated at 24 individuals.


	97. Chapter 97

Chapter 97

The shuttles went down to the planet, Dizzy taking Ashley's team and Steve taking Garrus' team. Cassidy and Karin went to the cargo bay and listened to the comm reports. Things went according to plan until Ashley said, "Dizzy, go get Dr Chakwas. Doctor, we have a girl, how old are you, honey? . . . a 15 year-old girl in labor. Her friend says she's been pushing since the night before." Karin said, "Belay that, Dizzy. A teenage first delivery can take days, Ashley. Make sure she's continues getting sips of water. Do what you can to calm her, and get her on the shuttle to come up here." Ashley said, "Yes, doctor."

Cassidy asked, "Are all the community members tranqed and / or restrained?" Ashley said, "All youth are tranqed. Laboring girl and friend are on their way to you." Garrus said, "Hunting down two men now." Clowder said, "I have detected a triggering signal. I am following it . . . Advisor, there is an explosive devise at the base of the central residence on the west side. If the triggering signal is cut off, the device is programmed to explode. I am copying the signal and am now augmenting the existing signal. I will continue sending the signal until everyone is removed from the blast zone."

Cassidy heard shots. Garrus said, "The leader shot himself. We tranqed the other man. Let's start moving people out of the blast danger."

Dizzy's shuttle arrived. Dizzy and Emory lifted the laboring girl onto the gurney. They pushed the gurney, with the friend hanging on, and followed Karin to the elevator. Gabby came out of the elevator. Cassidy asked, "What's got you up in the middle of the night?" Gabby said, "I've been waking about this time for the past week or so. Junior gets fidgety. So I usually walk into the mess and eat a little. Tonight, Samesh was up washing the tables. I asked and he told me about your rescue mission. So, I came to sit with you. I know its frustrating that you can't go down there."

Cassidy said, "We don't yet know how many of who we have down there. They are moving everyone away from an explosive on the main residence."

Garrus said, "Cassidy, we've got 9 girls down here, 6 of them are visibly pregnant. There are 9 boys and 3 adult men. Clowder is still holding the triggering signal on the explosive. Do we try to disarm it or let it explode?" Cassidy said, "Liara, is there a possibility you could lift the explosive and send it flying out somewhere harmless?" Clowder said, "That is not a safe option, Admiral. She would need to get within the blast radius in order to control the biotic field." Cassidy said, "Then everybody back off and let it explode."

Karin said, "Cassidy, would you come to med bay, please." Gabby said, "I'm too stimulated to head back to bed. I'll go up with you." Cassidy and Gabby went up. Gabby followed Cassidy into the med bay.

The laboring girl was on a breather and had blood-filled tubes going from her chest to a machine. She had a fluids system set up. Emory was filling the nutrition pump. Karin said, "She had severe gestational hypertension. She had a seizure just as we were getting her in here and she flatlined. She is not a candidate for the Lazarus treatment, unfortunately. I'm keeping her organs going so we can take the baby by c-section. Its a boy."

Gabby stepped out of the med bay. Cassidy turned and saw the friend, backed against the far side cabinets, tears streaming down her face. Cassidy softly said, "Hi. What's your name?" The girl swallowed and wiped her face with her sleeve, "I'm . . . Vivian . . . ma'am." "Hello Vivian. I'm Admiral Cassidy Shepard Victus Vakarian. What's your friend's name?" "Megan. She was Megan Villareal." Tears streamed down her face again. Cassidy asked, "Are you sure you want to stay in here?" Vivian nodded her head.

Cassidy and Vivian watched the operation. Karin cut into Megan's abdomen and Emory carefully clamped the incision open. Karin reached in and adjusted the baby's position. Gabby and Ken came into the med bay. Gabby said, "Admiral, we want to adopt him." Cassidy said, "I see no reason why not. The mother's name is Megan Villareal."

Cassidy said, "EDI, let's record this, please. Gabriella Daniels Donnelly and Kenneth Donnelly, do you accept the rights and responsibilities as adoptive mother and father, respectively, to Megan Villareal's son, who was born this day and lost his mother to death this day as well?" Karin lifted the boy out and Emory wiped his face. He let out a hearty scream. Gabby said, "I do." Ken said, "I'll be his dad, yes."

Gabby went up and took a towel and Karin put the boy in Gabby's arms. She gave a pair of scissors to Ken and he cut the umbilical cord. Emory led Gabby over to another table to get him cleaned up, weighted, measured, assessed, scanned and give him antibiotic and vitamin shots. EDI said, "Do you have a name for him?" Gabby said, "Blake. Blake Villareal Daniels Donnelly." Ken said, "Alright then, Blake it is. That's Gabby's grandfather's name." EDI said, "I have recorded Blake's adoption to be transmitted to the Alliance at the next opportunity."

Karin said, "Gabby, bring Blake over here. He needs the colostrum from Megan."

Garrus came on the comm. "What do you want to do with these people, Cassidy?" Cassidy said, "I'm coming down." Cassidy looked at Vivian, "I could take you back down with me." Vivian said, "Please let me stay with her." Karin said, "I'll keep an eye on her." Cassidy said, "Alright then."

Cassidy went to the shuttle and Dizzy took her to the surface.

Cassidy stepped off the shuttle. The remains of the main residence was burning, over yonder. Cassidy came up to Garrus. Garrus said, "Everyone is sleeping."

Cassidy said, "Get all of the teens onto the shuttles. We are going to leave the men here. After we get the teens loaded, then take the men into one of the outbuildings and take the restraints off. Has anyone searched the outbuildings?" Garrus pointed, "Our team looked through those first. There's an omni-gel converter and a sewing machine in that building, along with piles of baby supplies, based on the size."

Cassidy ordered, "Steve you take a load of teens up, get the marines to lay them out on the martial arts mats, then come back for supplies. Ash, Liara, EDI go check out that building, prep whatever you think we can use. The rest of you can start putting teens into shuttles."

Cassidy and Garrus were on the last shuttle load up. Garrus quietly said, "Cassidy, I think you should get a few hours of sleep after breakfast." Cassidy said, "I hear you, I'm feeling it. I need to brief the kids when they wake up and let Hackett know about our delay. I'm going to set Joker and EDI back to fragment retrieval. That way, those of us short on sleep can catch some shut-eye before mining shifts kick back in."

Steve docked and Cassidy got out. She walked over and gazed at the 18 bodies laid on the mats. Cassidy went up to the med bay. Ken, Gabby and the baby were gone. Cassidy asked, "How is our young guest, Doctor?" Karin said, "Vivian has some dietary deficiencies that will correct themselves with a well-rounded diet." Cassidy asked, "Doctor, how long before our guests begin waking?" Karin looked at her watch and said, "The biggest boys should be waking soon, assuming they took only one dart each. When I finish with Vivian here, I can come down and scan them and give small amounts of stimulants to wake them all together."

Cassidy said, "Thank you, Doctor, that would be helpful. Lt Jackson, I'll need a rotating schedule of 4 marines at a shift to stay with the boys. Garrus, the biggest boys should be waking soon."

Cassidy looked at Vivian. "Are you the one that left the message on the comm tower?" Vivian nodded. Cassidy asked, "Are you up to answering some questions?" Vivian said, "I'll tell you what I can."

Cassidy said, "Tell me what happened here, after the Reapers came." Vivian said, "We were on a field trip from our school, they're all FFA - Future Farmers of the Alliance. I was along for the ride, because my dad signed me up. We were supposed to get in our shuttles to evacuate, but we were shot down. Our advisors, Mr Tembras and Miss Rivers were killed in the crash along with Wendall, Joey, and Erica. These men came up and said to get in their truck, they would keep us safe. So we did."

Vivian continued, "The Prophet was real nice at first. He helped us hide in a really deep abandoned mine where he had lots of food. After a while, the Reapers left. He led us up here and drove us to this compound. Well, we built a couple of the outer buildings after we got here. Once we got settled with farming and hunting and gathering and all, then he started saying things like we had to rebuild the population ourselves and we wouldn't set a distress beacon because the Reapers had people out there under control."

Vivian said, "The Prophet took Dana as his first wife. She cried when she heard about it, but said it was necessary for the future. She didn't get pregnant right away. So, then he chose Jordan. Jordan and her boyfriend, Dustin, tried to run away together. The Prophet and his men went and caught them. He brought them back here and made us watch and he called them traitors and he shot them dead."

Vivian wiped some tears off her face, then she went on, "He let his 1st Lieutenant choose and he took Megan. The Prophet took Rachel. He let his 2nd Lieutenant pick and he took Taylor. His 3rd Lieutenant took Haley. Rachel didn't get pregnant, either. The Prophet took Patience. He said his men could take second wives, too. So, Abby was taken under Megan, Kyley was taken under Taylor, Chloe was taken under Haley. The 1st Lieutenant took Shannon, too. I was the last one. The Prophet was going to make me marry him, under Dana, Rachel, and Patience."

Cassidy said, "Thank you, Vivian. That was a lot of information." Cassidy said, "I'm heading for the cargo bay." Karin said, "We'll meet you down there, soon, Admiral."

Cassidy rejoined Garrus in the cargo bay. One of the boys was sitting up with his hand to his forehead. He carefully looked around then said, "Where are we?" Cassidy said, "You are on the Normandy." He said, "Who are you?" Cassidy said, "I am Admiral Cassidy Shepard Victus Vakarian and this is . . " Garrus said, "Advisor Garrus Shepard Victus Vakarian. We are Council Spectres."

The boy said, "Where are you taking us?" Cassidy said, "I want to explain it to all of you at once, so I hope you can be patient with us until all your friends are awake. What is your name?" He said, "Noah Waxman, Admiral, ma'am." Another boy started moaning, "Shit, my head, . . ." Noah went over to him, "Max, stay down for a minute 'til the first wave passes man, we were tranqed."

Four marines came in, unarmed. They placed themselves around the mat, sitting on crates. Karin came in with Emory and Vivian. Karin started scanning the girls. Vivian stayed near Karin. Emory went over to Noah. "I'm Lt Norquist. If you'll let me scan you, I can give you a proper dose to knock that headache down." Noah looked Emory over, then looked over at the marines, "This isn't some mind control shit, is it?" Emory said, "If we really wanted to mind control you, would we tell you straight up about it?" Noah said, "Hmm, stupid question, I guess. Go ahead and scan me."

Eventually all the teens were awake and focused. Cassidy said, "As some of you already know, I am Council Spectre and Alliance Admiral Cassidy Shepard Victus Vakarian. This is my first officer and husband, Council Spectre Advisor Garrus Shepard Victus Vakarian." One of the girls' hands went up. Cassidy raised a finger, "Let me pass some info on to you all then I will start taking questions." The girl put her hand down.

Cassidy said, "The Prophet is dead. Shot himself. His three helpers are by themselves in one of the outbuildings on the planet. The main residence was bombed and burned to the ground by one of the Prophet's explosive devices. Megan died giving birth to a son, here on the ship. He has been adopted by a couple of my engineers. They named him Blake, full name is Blake Villareal Daniels Donnelly."

Cassidy said, "I understand that you all were on a school trip when the Reapers attacked. You are all under 18, as I understand, so technically you are all under my guardianship. Now we'll go around, you will give me your name and age. Then I'll take questions."

"Dana Winters, 16" "Rachel Locksley, 14" "Noah Waxman, 15" "Max Morales, 16" "Taylor Klein Davis, 16" "Chloe Surbrook Abbott, 14" "Kyley Phillips, 14" "Derek Conway, 15" "Christopher Banks Hall, 13" "Abby Brown Reilly, 14" "Haley Carter Garrison, 15" "Patience Parsons Moore, 13" "Stephen O'Connor, 14" "Shane Hildebrand, 14" "Trenton Mills Schmidt, 14" "Shannon Pierce, 13" "Vivian Santiva, 12" "David DeKett Ries, 13" "Zachary Turnbull, 16"

Cassidy said, "Thank you. Questions."

Dana raised her hand, "I was married, Admiral, as was almost every girl here. What now?" Cassidy said, "None of you were legally married. You were all under age and did not have legal standing to enter into a civil union. Any ceremony those men went through with you is null and void. As to the 'what now' part, we are on a mission to open the mass relay to this system. While we are doing that, I'm going to assign each of you to a crew member who will look after you individually for me."

Cassidy continued, "Once we complete our mission, we'll jump you to Earth, and you will have options. 1. I can get you enrolled in a residential high school on Earth. 2. If we locate grandparents or an aunt or uncle that you want to go to, we'll take you there and transfer your guardianship. 3. If you find an adult you would like to adopt you, and they agree, then we can arrange that. If you want to go on a list of 'I'd like to be adopted', I will make note of that and try to match you to someone. You can tell me that when we do private interviews this afternoon."

Zachary raised his hand, "What happened to the Reapers, Admiral?" Cassidy said, "With the aid of my friends, we got all of the Reapers in the galaxy to overload their brains to slag. They are dead."

Taylor asked, "What if I want to go back to my husband?" Cassidy said, "The men on the planet are child molesters and statutory rapists. I cannot allow you to go back."

Shannon asked, "What if I don't want this baby?" Cassidy said, "Basically, there are couples that will be happy to adopt a baby. We can arrange adoptions."

Abby raised her hand, "Where are we going to sleep, Admiral?" Cassidy said, "There is a room with bunks on Deck 3 where you girls will stay. Boys, you are going to be camping here, on this mat. We'll get you blankets and pillows before the day is out."

Stephen asked, "About how long before we get to Earth?" Cassidy said, "Probably about a week or so. Depends on how long it takes us to mine material for the mass relay to use to fix itself."

Cassidy said, "Now, its time for breakfast. Follow Lt Van Atta there and she will show you down to the mess hall on Deck 6. We are currently on Deck 5." The kids got up and walked over to the elevator. They went down in two groups with the marines. Vivian hung back and took Karin's hand.

Cassidy said, "I'm going to report to Admiral Hackett then I will come to breakfast." Garrus said, "I'll get Wendy and Paktal and give Zoe a break. See you at breakfast."


	98. Chapter 98

Chapter 98

Cassidy went to the comm room. EDI said, "Sending the comm request, Admiral." Hackett's image came on, "Cassidy, what's your situation?" "We are retrieving fragments. We are going to have to mine for material to replace one fragment that got caught in a gas giant, so we will probably take longer than my original estimate. We encountered a group of survivors on Tip Tree. . . ." Cassidy explained the situation.

Hackett said, "Well, that makes one of my decisions very easy now. I have a large fund sponsored by a number of corporations designated for 'war orphans'. I am transferring control of that fund, in the amount of 20 million credits to you for support of this group of kids and the babies that were forced on them. You can distribute it as you see fit." Cassidy said, "I will take care of it, sir."

Hackett said, "I will have ships ready to come through when you get the relay open to take those three into custody. That way they will not threaten future incoming colonists. If you send the list of names, we will get a family search going, see if any extended family are around." Cassidy said, "In the meantime, I'm going to see which crew members will foster for the time being." "Sounds good, Cassidy. Let me know if anything changes. Hackett out."

Cassidy composed a message to the crew, asking for any willing to serve as foster parents. Cassidy got an immediate reply from Karin that she would foster Vivian. Then she went to join Garrus at breakfast. Cassidy saw that the teens had been placed at temporary tables, except Vivian was eating with Karin, Carsel and Emory.

Cassidy got fostering offers from Ashley, Samantha, Steve, Samesh, Irene, Greg, Ensign Copeland, Navigator Bates, Dizzy, Diana, Joker, Lt Van Atta, Corporal Morris, Staff Sergeant Petra McDonald, and Thane. Garrus said, "Cassidy, you are not eating." Cassidy returned her attention to the table and focused on her food.

After breakfast, Garrus escorted her to the cabin and insisted that she sleep.

Cassidy woke to the smell of food. Garrus came in, carrying a couple trays. He said, "I had lunch sent up. What's your plan for this afternoon?" Cassidy got up, went to the sofa and opened her tray. She said, "I'm going to set up in the lab. I'll talk to the kids, one at a time, and assign them to a foster parent." Garrus said, "Sounds good. If we need to take one, I'm good with that, just so you know." Cassidy said, "I think we've got about all we can handle, but I'll keep that in mind if there is a need."

After lunch, Milin set up a folding table and chairs in the lab. Cassidy had a pitcher of water and bowl of trail mix sent up.

She called for Dana first. Cassidy asked, "What were your interests, before the Reapers came?" Dana said, "I like horses, and dance." Cassidy asked, "What were your best subjects at school?" "Social studies, language arts." Cassidy said, "How do you feel about math and science?" Dana said, "Sorry, I'm hopeless in those classes. I was doing pre-calc functions for the second time and not doing much better than the first time."

Cassidy said, "If I were to put another girl with you in fostering, who would you want to be with you?" Dana said, "I thought we had a choice as to whether to be adopted?" Cassidy said, "You do. This foster situation is to provide you with a crew member on board who will be primarily responsible for you. If no relatives for you are found, then I will transfer guardianship to that person and she will follow you through the remainder of your schooling, be there to help with your transition to university or the Academy or an apprenticeship."

Dana thought a minute and said, "Alright. If I don't get along with this person, I can find someone else?" Cassidy said, "Yes. I have in mind for you Diana Allers, our on-board reporter. She does . . " Dana said, "Battlespace. Diana? Wow." Cassidy said, "You didn't answer about a friend. Does that mean you'd rather not have a friend fostering with you?" Dana said, "My best friend was Jordan . . . but Abby and I get on OK."

Cassidy said, "Why don't you go to the game room? I'm going to talk to Abby then call you back in here." Dana said, "OK." She left.

Cassidy called Abby in. Cassidy explained the foster plan. Cassidy asked, "Abby, how far along are you?" Abby said, "Dr Chakwas said I was about 32 weeks." Cassidy asked, "What are your thoughts about the baby? Keep or adopt out?" Abby said, "Adopt out. I can't think about him, the baby, without picturing that man coming at me." Tears went down her face. Cassidy asked, "Do you get along well enough with Dana?" Abby said, "Yes, she's nice to me."

Cassidy called in Diana and Dana. When they were all in, Cassidy said, "Diana, this is Dana Winters, she's 16 and this is Abby Brown Reilly, 14 and 32 weeks along with a boy that's going to be adopted out. Girls, this is Diana Allers, our on-board reporter. Any concerns, any of you?" They shook their heads. Cassidy said, "I want you to go have a chat, in your quarters, if that's OK, Diana? Then have dinner together tonight." Diana said, "Alright, Dana, Abby, this way to my mini studio."

Cassidy called in Taylor. Taylor said, "You can assign me a foster person, but I don't have to talk to them." Cassidy said, "All I ask for is you to be civil, allow her to help you with any needs that come up. How far along are you?" "The doctor says I have about 3 weeks left. Its a boy." "Keeping him or adopting out?" "How can I hope to care for him, if I can't go back and I don't want to deal with any of you, you bastards who let Megan die? You can find someone to adopt him." Cassidy said, "Go to the game room for a few minutes, please. I'll call you back in here in a bit." Taylor got up and left.

Cassidy called in Lt Van Atta. "Janelle, the girl I'm assigning to you believes she's in love with her rapist, angry with us in her grief over her friend who died this morning. She doesn't want to be here and she doesn't want the baby, which is only 3 weeks from term. Watch her carefully, possibly a suicide risk." Janelle said, "I will work with her however I can, Admiral."

Cassidy called Taylor back in. "Lieutenant, this is Taylor Klein Davis, age 16, 37 weeks along with a boy she's adopting out. Taylor, this is Marine Lt Janelle Van Atta. She is second-in-command of the marine team on this ship. I suggest you two go have a chat and have dinner together." Janelle stood, opened the door and motioned Taylor to go out ahead of her.

Cassidy called in Haley. Haley liked cooking and liked biology class best. She was 35 weeks with a girl she hoped to keep, if possible. Cassidy called in Samesh. "Samesh, this is Haley Carter Garrison. She says she likes to cook. Haley, this is Samesh Bhatia, our head chef. Why don't you take her to the galley and have a chat?" Haley followed him out.

Next was Rachel. Rachel liked RPG video games and didn't have a favorite class. She said she was friends with Chloe. Chloe also liked RPGs and liked martial arts. Chloe was 31 weeks with a girl she wanted to adopt out. Cassidy put them with Ashley.

Kyley, into math and physics, was paired with Samantha. Kyley was 30 weeks with a boy she was adopting out.

Shannon liked biology and art. She was 27 weeks with a boy she was adopting out. Cassidy paired her with Irene.

Cassidy put Patience with Navigator Amy Bates. Zachary went to Greg Adams. Max went to Steve. Derek got paired with Julio Morris and Noah with Petra McDonald. Shane went to Dizzy, Stephen to Kevin Copeland, Trenton to Thane and David to Joker. Cassidy indulged Garrus' request and assigned Christopher to him and herself.

It was dinner time when she finished. She said to Christopher, "Well, let's go find Garrus, then we'll pick up Wendy and Paktal." Christopher said, "Who are Wendy and Paktal?" Cassidy said, "Wendy is a human girl, age 4, and Paktal is a turian boy, still an infant. They are our children who are on board with us, we also have a daughter, Melanie, 16, who is studying at Grissom Academy."

They went to the Main Battery. Cassidy brought Christopher in with her. She said, "Garrus, this is Christopher Banks Hall, age 13. He is into taking things apart to learn about them. He likes electronics and math and RPG video games." Garrus shook his hand, "Hello Christopher. Let's get Wendy and Paktal, then go introduce you to my sister and her family." Cassidy said, "Thane is fostering Trenton, a friend of Christopher's." Christopher asked, "Who is Thane?" Cassidy said, "Thane is a drell who is part of our family in the role of castrill, which is a formalized friend of the family. He has a son on Kahje who will be getting married soon."

They picked up Wendy and Paktal just as Solana and Milin were picking up Maklin. Cassidy made introductions. Wendy said, "Is he my brother, too?" Cassidy said, "We don't know yet, pumpkin." Wendy said, "Paktal is my little brother. Melanie is my big sister. Mike is my cousin. Mike is at school with Melanie. Maklin is my cousin, too. Mommy is growing another little brother and a little sister."

Christopher said, "I had a little brother, Alexander, he was 9 when the Reapers came." Cassidy said, "We'll try to find out what happened to him for you."

Dinner was a noisy affair with get-to-know-you conversations going on. Thane introduced Trenton around. Thane asked, "Do you have any objection to my allowing Trenton to take the second bed in my room?" Cassidy said, "Fine with me. That's what you want to do, Trenton?" "Yes, ma'am. Thank you."

Christopher looked at Cassidy, "Would it be possible to . . .?" Cassidy looked at Garrus. Garrus said, "I think we could squeeze a cot in there for the next week." Cassidy said, "As long as you don't mind rooming with a baby. He wakes at night still." Christopher said, "I don't mind. It will be better than being with some of those guys."

Christopher said, "If you'll excuse me for a moment, Admiral, I want to talk to David for a moment." Cassidy said, "Alright." Christopher went over to David, who was sitting with Joker, Emory, Steve and Max. Christopher talked to David quietly. Max said, "I'm going to get some more." and got up. David looked at Christopher and Christopher said, "Ask him." Joker said, "Ask who, me or Cortez or Doc junior over there?" David opened his mouth, then closed it and looked at the table. Christopher said, "The Admiral is letting me bunk in their quarters and Trenton is rooming with his guy." Joker said to David, "Camping on the mats not your style?" David nodded. Joker said, "We can pull the extra bed down in my room. Not a problem."

Christopher came back. Cassidy asked, "Either of you guys play cards?" Trenton said, "My dad played cribbage and euchre with me and some friends of his." Christopher said, "I'm willing to learn." Cassidy said, "We'll teach you to play Bridge tonight. Solana, Garrus, Christopher and maybe Liara. Then me, Thane, Trenton and maybe Dr Grixen." Cassidy messaged Liara and Carsel. They both agreed.

The game room was full with two tables of bridge, plus poker and a backgammon game going on. Volleyball had two big teams playing and ping pong had a sizable group rotating through. They were into the third game at Cassidy's table when EDI's voice came on her omni-tool, "Admiral, you are needed immediately in the Deck 6 women's restroom. Dr Chakwas you will be needed in med bay." Karin got up from the backgammon game as Cassidy got up. Cassidy said, "Vivian, why don't you sit here and talk to these folks while we're gone." Cassidy and Karin left.

Cassidy went to Deck 6 and then to the women's restroom. Janelle was leaning over Taylor, giving her mouth to mouth and chest compressions. Cassidy said, "Lt Norquist, get a gurney down here to the Deck 6 women's restroom. Dr Chakwas, prepare for Taylor, who has stopped breathing and her heart is stopped. Lt Van Atta is giving mouth to mouth and chest compressions. I have called for a gurney." Karin said, "Emory is on his way to you with a frame, Cassidy."

The door opened and Emory said, "Admiral, I have the frame ready just outside the door. You take her left side, hands under her shoulders and knees, I'll take the other side. Lieutenant, I'm going to count down from 3. After 1, you will stand and go open the door for us and we will lift and carry. Here we go . . . 3, 2, 1, up!" Janelle stood, went to the door and held it open. Emory and Cassidy carried her to the frame outside the door. He put a portable breath support unit over her nose and mouth and turned it on. "Admiral you and the Lieutenant are going to guide the frame while I resume chest compressions." He got up on the frame and straddled Taylor's hips and leaned over her belly to push on her chest.

Cassidy and Janelle carefully guided the frame on its wheels to the elevator. On Deck 3, they guided it to the med bay. Karin scanned Taylor's head, got a determined look, then said, "Keep compressing Emory." Karin said, "Lieutenant, Admiral. She's poisoned herself. We've got to get the baby out and see if we can neutralize the poison." Karin replaced the portable breathing unit with the stronger one, then hooked her chest up with electronics to stimulate the heart. "Turning on the heart unit, 3, 2, 1 on!" Emory lifted up and got off the frame.

Janelle said, "I'll get her dress off." She took the shoes off then undid the buttons all the way up and pulled the dress and underwear all the way off. Karin had was scrubbing the belly with disinfectant. Karin and Emory performed the second emergency C-section of the day. Janelle cut the cord. Emory stimulated the baby to get him to cry and breath. Then he took the baby over to do the cleaning, scanning etc.

Karin took a blood sample to scan for the poison. While the machine was analyzing the sample, she got an IV going. She got the result on the screen and grabbed a small bottle out of a drawer, stuck a syringe and drew up the liquid inside then pushed the syringe into the IV set up and pushed the liquid into the line.

Cassidy took the blanket and Emory put the baby in her arms. Karin and Emory cleaned and closed Taylor's abdomen. Karin said, "Lieutenant, come to this side and help me get her on her side, 3, 2, 1 roll. Emory get the pump. Thank you." Karin pumped a bit of the colostrum out of one of the breasts. She ran an analysis to see if the poison had gotten in.

Karin said, "Looks clear. Cassidy bring the baby here, lay him this way and support his head while I get a pad under there. Let's attach him, there we go, he's sucking well." Cassidy glanced up to see Steve, Max, Samantha and Kyley standing outside the windows. Karin said, "I've got the windows on opaque mode so they can't see in." Emory said, "Can you excuse me for a minute, Doctor?" "Not a problem, Emory. Oh, that's good, her heart is beating on its own." Karin disconnected the heart unit and cleaned the equipment off her chest.

Emory and Steve came in. Steve said, "Cassidy, is it true that she agreed to adopt the baby out?" Cassidy said, "She did." EDI said, "I have the recording of her direction to Cassidy to adopt the boy out." Steve said, "Emory and I, well, we want to marry and adopt the boy. Will you conduct the ceremony tomorrow? We'll take him as soon as he's ready." Karin said, "I'm detaching him so we can adjust things so he can nurse from the other breast." Cassidy adjusted and held the boy while Karin reattached him.

Cassidy said, "We have a funeral before breakfast. Do you want to do the wedding and the adoption right before dinner, like we last time?" Steve said, "That sounds good." EDI said, "Admiral, since Miss Klein Davis is a minor, the guardianship of her son falls to you as captain of this vessel. Do you wish to transfer guardianship to Lt Commander Cortez and Lt Norquist at this time?" Cassidy said, "Up to you guys." Steve said, "Give us a minute, we need to discuss names."

Cassidy looked through the window again and saw Samantha hugging Janelle. Max was talking to Kyley. The machine beeped and Karin removed the breath support.

The baby fell asleep. Cassidy detached him, wrapped him in the blanket and picked him up. Steve and Emory turned back. Steve said, "We are calling him 'Robert Norquist Cortez' " Cassidy said, "EDI, record this. Do you, Steve and Emory, agree to accept the duties and responsibilities of guardianship over this newborn boy, given up for adoption by agreement between his mother who is a minor, Taylor Klein Davis, and her guardian, myself?" Steve and Emory both said, "I do." Emory opened his arms and Cassidy handed little Robert over.

Cassidy said, "I'll get Milin to work on anther family suite. But in the meantime, you all will be staying where?" Emory said, "Steve's room." Cassidy sent a message to Milin.

Samesh arrived with box of bottles, nipples, packets of formula and a large pitcher of water. Cassidy said, "How is that you have these supplies, Samesh?" Samesh said, "When Gabby hit her 20th week, EDI suggested we lay in supplies, just in case. So I did. Gave some to Gabby this morning for little Blake." Steve took the box and Samesh left. Cassidy said, "Gabby and Ken are using my second crib. I can loan you the bassinet that we got with Paktal." Steve said, "We'd appreciate that, Cassidy." Cassidy said, "I'm heading up to the cabin now. You can come get the bassinet when you're ready." Steve and Emory left with Robert.


	99. Chapter 99

Chapter 99

Karin said, "Let me check you, Cassidy, you're looking wearier than I'd like. Hmm. Eat something more before bed, please." Cassidy said, "Yes, doctor." Janelle came in, "I'm going to sit with Taylor, doctor. I assume she's to be on suicide watch for the time being?" EDI said, "I am watching her as well." Cassidy left the med bay and walked to the game room.

Thane looked up and said, "What's the news, Admiral?" The room went quiet. Cassidy said, "Taylor poisoned herself. She is recovering in med bay. Her baby boy was taken by emergency C-section, Lt Commander Cortez and Lt Norquist have taken guardianship of him, naming him Robert Norquist Cortez. We will have a funeral for Megan Villareal just before breakfast in the morning. Then there will be a wedding and adoption just before dinner." The room let out their collective breath in relief.

Cassidy said, "I'm going to get something to eat, then go to the comm room and report, then heading up to the cabin." Garrus said, "We've just finished here. Wendy, time for bed." Garrus went and took Wendy's hand. Cassidy said, "I'll see you up top in a bit."

Cassidy went down to the mess hall. Rafa saw her come in and said, "How about a chicken salad sandwich, Admiral?" Cassidy said, "Sounds good. Wrap it to go, please." Rafa said, "Haley will be bunking in my room with me, Admiral, unless you object." Cassidy said, "No problem with me, if that's what she wants to do." Rafa handed her the sandwich and a tall cup with straw, "Chocolate mint shake, with a teeny bit of dextro sugar thrown in." Cassidy said, "Thank you, Rafa."

Cassidy sucked on her shake on the way to the comm room. EDI said, "We have completed retrieving half of the available fragments, Admiral. I am putting through the comm request."

Cassidy arrived, put her food aside and stepped into the QEC space. Hackett stepped in. "Cassidy, what's going on?" Cassidy updated him on the situation. "I am glad that Dr Chakwas and Lt Norquist were able to save her. We have results for you on the family search. Chesa, send that file to EDI, please." Chesa said, "Aye, aye, sir. Sending now . . . . Complete." EDI said, "File received. Sending to your omni-tool now, Admiral."

Cassidy said, "Nothing more at this time, sir." "Goodnight, Cassidy. Hackett out."

Cassidy got her sandwich and shake and took them up to the cabin. Steve was in there, holding the bassinet, talking to Christopher. Steve said, "Oh, Cassidy, did they have a chance to search out family, do you have any info?" Cassidy said, "Yes, but I haven't had a chance to read it yet. I'll send out messages to the appropriate foster parents after I eat and look at the file." Cassidy put her sandwich and shake on the desk. She went into Wendy's room where Garrus was saying goodnight. Garrus got up and Cassidy gave Wendy a hug and kiss and said goodnight.

Cassidy went to her desk to eat. Christopher was putting together his cot. Garrus got Paktal's food and started feeding him. Cassidy transferred the file to her desk unit:

Banks Hall, Christopher. Brother, Alexander, age 10, Banok Home for Children, Banok, Terra Nova.

Brown Reilly, Abby: Brother, Gary, age 16, Banok Home for Children, Banok, Terra Nova

Brown Reilly, Abby: Sister, Lea, age 11, Banok Home for Children, Banok, Terra Nova

Carter Garrison, Haley: Paternal Grandfather, Captain Landon Garrison, serving on SSV Africa

Conway, Derek: no relations found

DeKett Ries, David: no relations found

Hildebrand, Shane: no relations found

Klein Davis, Taylor: Sister, Amber, age 12, Banok Home for Children, Banok, Terra Nova

Klein Davis, Taylor: Sister, Jade, age 8, Banok Home for Children, Banok, Terra Nova

Locksley, Rachel: Paternal Aunt, Lieutenant Penelope Locksley, RN, serving aboard the Philippines

Mills Schmidt, Trenton: Maternal Grandmother, Esther Mills, age 66, Aronas, Terra Nova

Mills Schmidt, Trenton: Brother, Aston, age 16, Aronas, Terra Nova

Morales, Max: Brother, Miguel, age 14, Banok Home for Children, Banok, Terra Nova

Morales, Max: Sister, Ruby, age 11, Banok Home for Children, Banok, Terra Nova

O'Connor, Stephen: Maternal Grandmother, Genevieve Orson, age 61, Jorine, Eden Prime

O'Connor, Stephen: Maternal Grandfather, Garth Orson, age 62 Jorine, Eden Prime

Parsons Moore, Patience: no relations found

Phillips, Kyley: Brother, Edward, age 16, Banok Home for Children, Banok, Terra Nova

Pierce, Shannon: no relations found

Santiva, Vivian: Brother, Rafael, age 16, Banok Home for Children, Banok, Terra Nova

Surbrook Abbott, Chloe: no relations found

Turnbull, Zachary: Paternal Uncle, Grant Turnbull, age 39, Patterson, Eden Prime

Turnbull, Zachary: Paternal Aunt, Erica Hanson Turnbull, age 37, Patterson, Eden Prime

Villareal, Megan: Maternal Aunt, Lydia Garcia, age 63, Scott, Terra Nova

Villareal, Megan: Sister, Darlene, age 12, Scott, Terra Nova

Villareal, Megan: Brother, Thomas, age 9, Scott, Terra Nova

Waxman, Noah: no relations found

Winters, Dana: no relations found

Cassidy looked at Christopher, who was sitting on his cot, talking to Garrus. Cassidy got up and walked down to the bottom step. Christopher and Garrus looked up at her. Cassidy said, "Alexander is on Terra Nova, at the Banok Home for Children." Christopher jumped up, came up and hugged Cassidy, "Thank you! Thank you! Admiral, that's wonderful!"

Cassidy's vision grayed. She could feel hands on her middle, throwing her. She knew this wasn't real. She fought hard to come back. She felt her feet on the floor, she was standing. Her vision cleared, ". . all right?" Cassidy said, "I'm okay. Just retreated a bit." Christopher said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to . . ." Garrus said, "You are fine, son. She was just a bit surprised is all. She has flashbacks, sometimes." Cassidy said, "Nothing on you, Christopher. I'm still recovering from a psychological trauma."

Cassidy said, "Your brother and quite a few siblings of the other kids are at the same place on Terra Nova. We'll head straight there once we fix the relay." Christopher asked, "Then what?" Cassidy said, "We will put you and your brother in a residential school on Earth. As our wards, if you want or " Garrus interrupted, "We hope you and your brother will join our family, gaining you both 2 sisters and a brother and another brother and sister on the way. There's also Cassidy's family, Adrien and Hannah Krueger Victus, who would become one side of grandparents, then there's my family, you've met Solana, Milin and Maklin, then there's my father, Garvin Vakarian, who is Executor on the the Citadel. And you've met Thane, our castrill."

Christopher said, "My mom always said that family is the most important thing, that friends are good, but family is with you all your life, if you take care of them and accept care from them. I always thought my mom was kind of melodramatic, but now I can see her point. I would rather have new parents than guardians. Yes, I want to do the adoption thing, for me and my brother." Cassidy said, "We'll let you explain it to Alexander when we get to Terra Nova. Then we can adopt you both together. Okay?" Christopher smiled, "Yea, okay. That's awesome."

Cassidy went to a drawer and pulled out an pair of sweat shorts and a t-shirt and tossed them at Christopher. "Those might be a little big, but they'll do as night wear, eh?" Christopher grabbed the clothes and took them to the bathroom. "Thanks, Admiral." Cassidy said, "No need to be formal."

Cassidy went back to her desk and copied relevant info to each of the foster parents. Cassidy heard the shower. She closed the files, then went and sat down by Garrus. He leaned in and kissed her. He asked, "Are you okay?" Cassidy said, "I am. It seemed like I came back pretty quickly this time." He said, "Just long enough for me to notice you were gone and then he saw me looking at you and he looked and asked, "Is she all right?" and you were back.

Cassidy asked, "Are we done at 7 now?" Garrus said, "Probably. What would you have done if I had not given my okay this morning?" Cassidy said, "I don't know, probably paired up a couple of the boys that were friends." Garrus said, "Well, I'm glad it turned out this way." Cassidy said, "Me, too."

Christopher came out and went to his cot. Cassidy grabbed a T-shirt and a pair of shorts for herself and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. She came out and went to bed. When Garrus was done, he crawled in and pulled her close. "EDI, night lights."

Cassidy, in her formals, stood at the head of the casket. Someone had made a flag with their high school logo on it and draped it over. Gabby, with Blake, and Ken stood close on one side, Vivian stood on the other. Cassidy said, "We are here to remember Megan Villareal. She was the third child of five in her family. Let those who knew her speak."

Vivian said, "Megan took me in, let me tag along, answered my questions. She was the big sister I didn't have." Haley said, "Megan liked math, and romantic movies, and she was nice. She had a big laugh." Noah said, "She let me kiss her once, after a soccer game. She tasted like cherry slushee. She had a nice smile." Dana said, "Megan helped with the winter dance. She made paper snowflakes and hung them in the gym."

Cassidy waited a moment to see if anyone else wanted to speak. She nodded to Max and Zachary, who took the school flag off and folded it, while EDI played Taps. They presented it to Gabby, then stepped back. Cassidy said, "We return Megan's elements to the galaxy that made her." Everyone stepped back. Max, Zachary, Vivian, Haley, Noah and Dana carried the casket up to the barrier. The casket rose up then went out of the cargo bay and started making its way to the star.

Cassidy waited until the lights were no longer visible. She nodded at Greg, who called out, "Company dismissed." They all walked out slowly past her to the elevator.

When she was alone, she said, "EDI, close the cargo bay doors." She turned around and went to get breakfast.

She was eating her eggs, listening to Maklin and Wendy quiz each other on math questions. EDI's voice came on her omni-tool, "Admiral you have a comm request from the Philippines." Cassidy said, "Pass on my respectful request to delay the communication for a half hour." EDI said, "Admiral Hackett says request approved."

Zachary came up, "Excuse me, Admiral. How long do you estimate before we will get to Eden Prime?" Cassidy said, "Zachary, the current ETA for repairing the mass relay is standing at 5 - 7 days. Then we will go to Terra Nova, as most of the family members are there. After we finish there, then we will go to Eden Prime." Zachary said, "Thank you, Admiral." Zachary went back to his table, with Greg, Karin, Vivian and Carsel.

Cassidy finished her breakfast and excused herself. She returned her tray then went up to change. Then she went to the comm room. Hackett's image came on. "Cassidy, I sent the Iowa to the Arcturus build and brought the Africa in. As you know, the commander there is Captain Landon Garrison, grandfather to one of your teens. I have copied him on your report of the situation. He is here and is asking to speak with his granddaughter." Cassidy said, "EDI, would you escort Samesh and Haley through to the comm room, please." EDI said, "Aye, aye, Admiral."

Hackett said, "Based on the report we sent you last night, Chesa has noted that another residential school is going to be needed, as the one in London will soon be at capacity. Anderson has a request from Cedar Rapids, Iowa for a new school system, so that is where we are concentrating our efforts. We are beginning work and hopefully by the time you get back here to Earth, it will be ready to accept students." Cassidy said, "Good, Garrus and I will have one to send. I'll keep the younger brother here to finish his middle school curriculum."

EDI came in with Haley and Samesh. Cassidy said, "Haley, you come stand up here where I am." Haley said, "Yes, ma'am." Cassidy said, "This shows the comm room on the Philippines, a ship in the Sol System. Your grandfather is on the Philippines to talk with you." Captain Garrison's image came on. He said, "Admiral Shepard Victus Vakarian, I am grateful that you rescued Haley and her friends from TipTree." Cassidy said, "Just doing our jobs, Captain. I'll leave you two to chat." Cassidy stepped out and went to the other side of the war room next to EDI and Samesh.

Captain Garrison said, "Haley, honey, how are you?" Haley said, "Papa, I'm doing okay. The Admiral has been very nice. She gave us each a foster parent to help us out." "Who is your foster parent?" "Mr Samesh Bhatia, he is the head chef here on the Normandy. He's been helping me learn some cooking stuff. I asked him to because I like to cook." "Yes, I remember. When is your baby due?" "Dr Chakwas said it should be another month or so." "What are your plans?" "I want to keep her, Papa, if I can."

Captain Garrison said, "Well, we have a daycare on the Africa, but I'm afraid I couldn't be much help with a little one outside of that. Our galley cooks are competent, but I wouldn't call them chefs. You can come here if you want and we'll make things work. But I think you might have a better situation there, if there is help for the baby and if Mr Bhatia is willing to take you on as an apprentice, if that's what you want." Haley said, "I don't know, Papa. If I stayed, would I get to see you?" "Yes, honey, I'm sure that I'll see you whenever the Normandy is nearby. Let me talk to Mr Bhatia, if he's there."

Haley leaned out, "Mr Bhatia, my grandpa would like to talk to you." Samesh stepped into the comm room. He said, "Hello, Captain, I am Samesh Bhatia." "Hello, Mr Bhatia. Tell me, would you be willing to take Haley on as a culinary apprentice, if she stayed?" "She shows a natural talent, sir. I think she would learn well. Yes, we could do that." "Do you feel up to helping with her baby?" Samesh said, "My neice, Rafa, works with me in the galley. She has said she would be willing to help."

Captain Garrison said, "Mr Bhatia, I hope you will talk with Haley about possible adoption." Haley said, "But, Papa, wouldn't that take me out of your family?" Captain Garrison said, "No, Haley, honey. I will still be your grandfather. You would just add a father and a cousin." Haley looked at Samesh, "Would you do that, Mr Bhatia, be a father for me and a grandpa for my daughter?" Samesh smiled and said, "Yes, Haley, I would be thankful to fate to take you as a daughter."

Captain Garrison said, "Let's do this now, then, since we're here. If that's okay, Haley?" Haley said, "I'm so happy, Papa. I love you. Yes, let's. Admiral, would you come up here, please?"

Cassidy came in and said, "Do you, Samesh Bhatia, accept Haley as your adopted daughter, she having lost her parents to the Reapers on TipTree?" Samesh said, "I do, Admiral, wholeheartedly." Cassidy asked, "Do you, Haley, accept Samesh Bhatia as your adopted father?" Haley said, "Yes, Admiral, I do." Cassidy said, "Does this adoption meet with your approval as Haley's paternal grandfather?" Garrison said, "I approve of this adoption."

Cassidy said, "Do you want to add 'Bhatia' to your name, Haley?" Haley looked at Samesh, who nodded. Haley said, "I want my name to read Haley Elaine Carter Garrison Bhatia." Chesa said, "I have recorded this and am filing it in Alliance records."

Captain Garrison said, "Haley, honey, I'm so glad I got to see you. I'll look forward to seeing you for a visit on the Africa as soon as it can be arranged." Haley said, "I love you, Papa. I look forward to seeing your ship. Bye, Papa."

Samesh hugged Haley and she hugged him back, tears tracking down her face. Samesh and Haley left.

Garrison's image left and Hackett's came back on, "Cassidy, now we have Lieutenant Penelope Locksley, aunt to Rachel Locksley." Cassidy said, "EDI would you escort Rachel and Ashley in here, please." EDI said, "Aye, aye, Admiral."

Cassidy said, "Sir, this evening, after dinner, I would like to talk to Melanie, please." Hackett said, "Let's schedule it for 1930. Does that work for you, Cassidy?" "Yes, sir, that's good." "Chesa, send that message, please." "Aye, aye, sir. Message sent."

Rachel and Ashley came in. Cassidy said, "Rachel, this comm connects to the Philippines, a ship that is in the Sol System. Your aunt is serving there. She wants to talk to you. Come up and take my place here." Cassidy stepped down and Rachel stepped into the comm room.

Lt Locksley's image came on, "Rachel, I'm so glad to see you!" "Aunt Penny, I'm happy to see you too!" "How are you doing?" "The Admiral has been good to us, Aunt Penny. I have a foster parent, Lt Commander and Spectre Ashley Williams. She's helping me and my friend, Chloe." "I look forward to seeing you when you get here. I'll get you enrolled in school. They tell me a new residential school is going up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa." Rachel said, "OK, Aunt Penny. I'll see you when we get there. Bye." Lt Locksley said, "Bye, Rachel."

Cassidy waited while Rachel stepped out and went out with Ashley. Cassidy stepped back in, as did Hackett. Hackett said, "That's all I have for you at this time, Cassidy. We'll talk again this evening. Hackett out."

Cassidy stepped out. EDI said, "Admiral. Do you think that Jeff and I would be acceptable as adoptive parents?" Cassidy said, "I will fully back you if that's something you want. I think, though, that it may take some time for the law to catch up to you." "Jeff is discussing the option with David. David was initially reticent. He said he would think about it." Cassidy said, "We may need to take it to court, but I'll back you all the way up to the Council, if need be." Cassidy and EDI left.


	100. Chapter 100

Chapter 100

Cassidy went to the med bay. Karin was at her computer, Taylor was not awake. Karin said, "Cassidy, we've had a bit of rough time this morning. Taylor woke up and tried to rip out her tubes. She's despondent. I put her in a medical coma for the time being. I put Lt Van Atta on medical leave and sent her to get some sleep." Cassidy asked, "How long do you think you'll need to keep Taylor under?"

Karin rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I'm not sure. I want to consult with Brian Handyside, but he's on the Selk'nam, so not available to us." Cassidy asked, "Samantha, if Dr Handyside on the Selk'nam was on their QEC to the Philippines, and we on ours to there, could Chesa bridge the comms so we could communicate with the Selk'nam?" Samantha said, "Yes, Admiral. There would be a slight delay, but that should be barely noticable, if at all." Cassidy said, "Set it up, please, for as soon as Dr Handyside can be available. Call Dr Chakwas to the comm room as soon as Dr Handyside is ready."

Karin said, "Since you're here, Cassidy, Carsel said she would like to do an exam." Cassidy said, "OK, I'll stay here and wait for her."

EDI said, "Dr Chakwas, Dr Handyside is available now." Karin said, "I am coming." Karin left, stopping a moment to talk to Carsel, who was on her way in.

Carsel came in. "How are you feeling, Admiral?" "Prettt good, actually, since a fair number of the kids have some family to rejoin." Carsel said, "Good news is good for you. Get up there and expose your belly please, Admiral." Carsel scanned Cassidy and looked at the readings. "Things are looking good, Admiral. Savena is right on schedule in her development. I have readings for Benjamin also, but I'm not qualified yet to interpret them, beyond the fact that the scanner shows them as green." Cassidy said, "That's nice to know that Savena is doing well. Thank you, Doctor."

Cassidy sat up and put her clothing back in place. EDI said, "Admiral, tomorrow is Derek Conway's 16th birthday. Corporal Morris says a cake and an evening of laser tag are what Derek has requested." Cassidy said, "OK, EDI, let's schedule that for tomorrow evening." EDI said, "I will let Mr Bhatia know."

Carsel asked, "Why the celebration?" Cassidy said, "We celebrate the annual anniversary of the day of our birth. Usually with cake, presents and an activity of some sort. The activity depends on the age of the celebrant." Carsel said, "Oh. We mark the date, but don't make any fuss over it."

Thane came in, "Doctor. Admiral, do you have a moment?" Carsel said, "I can leave." Cassidy said, "No, you stay with Taylor, I'll go out."

Cassidy went out with Thane. He said, "Is anyone using the Life Support area now, Cassidy?" Cassidy said, "No." Thane said, "Then let's go in there to talk." Cassidy followed Thane into Life Support. Cassidy asked, "What's going on?" Thane said, "When Arashu prompted me to foster, I had no idea how fulfilling the role of foster father would feel to me. I only had bits of Kolyat's youth to compare and Trenton not being natural born or even adopted, I had no real comparison. Now that Trenton will be going to his grandmother and brother on Terra Nova, I feel Arashu's will prompting me to adopt another."

Cassidy said, "I understand. Do the drell have youth homes for orphaned children?" "There has been no need for them on Kahje. The hanar would place such a child with another drell family to support the child in his or her continuing training - all part of the Compact." Cassidy said, "What about on the home planet?" Thane said, "I hadn't considered that. There is almost surely the need. The question might be will the current leaders let such children out of their power. There has been constant war there for years. Boys would be potential soldiers and girls would be soldier replenishment units, to put it crudely. I will consult with Liara on the question."

Cassidy said, "I'll inquire about the state of the teen orphans on Eden Prime and Terra Nova. There may be such need that they will accept non-human adopters." Thane said, "Thank you." They left the room.

Cassidy went back to the med bay to find Karin returned. Karin said, "Brian and I have agreed on a synthetic approach. We would implant a chip in the base of her brain that would regulate her brain chemicals, allowing her to think without the feelings of overwhelming despondency. Once that's under way, then we'll try to extend the comm from the QEC to in here, so Dr Klein could do some therapy with her." Cassidy said, "We should get Janelle's agreement as well." Karin said, "I'll bring Janelle in here after lunch and explain it to her. I want to get Clowder's help in getting the chip functioning the way we need. That will take the rest of the morning."

Cassidy left and went to the Main Battery. There she found Garrus and Christopher with something in pieces all over the floor. They both looked up at her. Cassidy said, "Tech heaven, eh?" Christopher smiled, "This is awesome, . . . um, Mom." Cassidy smiled, "I set up a time this evening, 1930, to talk to Melanie. I'm thinking of pulling in my mother as well. So, we'll take some time out of the dancing for that."

Garrus said, "If we're going to get this back together before lunch, I need his attention, love." Cassidy said, "I'll leave you two to it, then." Cassidy left.

Cassidy went to Diana's room. Diana was there, working on editing one of her reports. "Admiral, what can I do for you?" Cassidy said, "I just wanted to check in with you. How are you and the girls getting on?" Diana said, "Actually better than I had expected, given Dana's personality as a Queen Bee. Now she's doing the oldest kid act."

Cassidy asked, "Have you thought about Abby's brother and sister?" Diana said, "I have. If I take on all four, Dana, Gary and Chloe would go to school on Earth and Lea would be here for middle school. Would that work for you?" Cassidy said, "That's our plan with Christopher and his brother Alexander. Christopher to school on Earth and Alexander up here for middle school. So, yeah, that would work fine." Diana said, "Good, then Lea wouldn't be doing middle school alone on board. I'll talk with the girls about all this tonight. They said they were going to play ping pong." Cassidy left.

Cassidy asked, "Milin, do you have a plan to show me?" "Yes, Admiral. I am on Deck 6 in the mess hall with Adams, Donnelly, and EDI." "I'm coming now." "Yes, ma'am."

Cassidy arrived in the mess hall and went to join the group. EDI had a top down schematic of the Deck 6 rooms. The arrangement had been completely overhauled so that there were now two rows of pairs of family suites all across the deck. Milin said, "We think this plan is more conducive to our projected needs. Each suite can be used for up to 4 crew members, 2 to a room, all 4 sharing the bath, or used as a family suite, with parents' room and kids' room. We will begin at the portside and convert the rooms nearest mine and Solana's suite, to complete that pair. We will need to relocate the crew assigned to those rooms."

Cassidy said, "How long until the suite is ready for Steve, Emory and Robert?" EDI said, "That depends on how many of the crew will be assigned to mining duties, Admiral." Cassidy said, "If Greg, Ken and Milin are on full-time, and Tork and Clowder split their time between this and mining and you have a few of the teens to volunteer for light duty, then what's the ETA?" EDI said, "About three days, Admiral." Cassidy said, "OK, get started."

EDI said, "Max and several other of the teens are in the game room, Admiral. Max asks if you would come talk to them if you have time." Cassidy said, "I'll head there now." EDI said, "Yes, ma'am."

Cassidy wen to the game room and went in. The kids went silent. Cassidy saw Max, Kyley, Rachel, Noah, Shane, and Shannon. Max said, "We're hoping you can clear up a debate were having here, Admiral. I'm telling them that the wedding tonight is going to be nothing like what those sickos on Tip Tree did." Cassidy said, "Steve and Emory are going to exchange vows, then they are going to formally adopt baby Robert. Then we're going to have dinner and then music and dancing."

Max said, "I tried to tell you, Rachel." Rachel said, "When they . . on the planet . . they said the new wife had to . . . they made us . . . in front of everybody." Tears were running down her red face. Cassidy said, "That's disturbing. Not your fault in any way, just another charge to lay at the feet of those criminals." Cassidy said, "EDI, make the videos of any of the weddings that have been conducted here on board available to any of the teens. I'll see you all tonight for Steve and Emory's wedding. Samesh makes wonderful cake."

Cassidy noticed a couple of them in new shirts, blousy peasant styles. She asked, "Somebody's been sewing?" Shannon said, "Patience and Stephen are really good at it. They volunteered. If we want something, we go down and Stephen helps us choose and make the fabric in the converter then Patience measures us and draws the pieces and we cut the fabric. Stephen makes thread and spools and winds it. They take turns between machine and hand sewing. We've been using the lab. EDI said it would be okay in there for now."

Cassidy said, "OK, so anything else you want to ask, while I'm here?" Kyley asked, "Admiral, can I ask a personal question?" "What would that be, Kyley?" "Who is blood related to you and who is adopted in your family?"

Cassidy said, "I have two blood relations. My mother is Admiral Hannah Krueger Victus, commanding the carrier Selk'nam. The other is my son, Benjamin, currently in development alongside his turian sister, Savena, who is blood related to my husband. I have an adopted father, Adrien Krueger Victus, who recently married my mother. I have adopted Melanie, who is 16 and studying at Grissom Academy, and Wendy, who is 4 and you've seen her, I'm sure. My other adopted child is Paktal, the turian baby, who is two and a half months old. Lt Commander Solana Vakarian is my sister-in-law, she is married to Lt Milin Hartrus and she adopted the Lieutenant's son, Maklin, age 5."

Kyley said, "Didn't you want to get to know these people before you adopted them?" Cassidy said, "You were found by a bad apple, in a desperate situation. He played on your need for protection and survival. Your ability to trust has been shaken. The bad apples are few and far between. If you are thinking about possible adoption with your foster parent, well, these people are good people. You do not have to take it all the way to adoption. You can leave it at guardianship, then go your own way after high school. But that's a cold and lonely road to walk. I wholeheartedly suggest you make strong connections."

Garrus' text came on her omni-tool, "We are ready for lunch. What about you?" Cassidy texted, "I'll meet you in the mess hall." Cassidy looked around, "Any last question before lunch?" They shook their heads, got to their feet and followed her out.

After lunch, Cassidy went with Janelle and Karin to the med bay. Carsel came in also. Karin explained about the implant to regulate Taylor's brain chemicals. Janelle agreed to the plan and Cassidy gave the go ahead. Cassidy pulled Janelle back away from Karin, Carsel and Taylor.

Janelle said, "Whatever happens with Taylor, I plan to adopt her sisters, Amber and Jade. Samantha and I have been talking about marriage. She was hurt by the demise of her relationship with Diana. She's not sure if she's ready yet. I'm glad you trusted me with being Taylor's foster parent. I'm sorry, Admiral, I'm running on at the mouth." Cassidy said, "No problem, Janelle. I'm pulling for Taylor along with you. I'm glad you have decided to adopt her sisters. Good luck with Samantha."

Karin said, "The implant is working properly, Admiral. We'll give it an hour to stabilize the levels before we wake her." Cassidy said, "Want to go play some ping pong, Janelle?" "OK, Admiral."

Derek and Abby were alone in the girls' bunk room. Derek said, "Won't you even kiss me, like we used to? You said you would if you got free. Well now we're free." Abby looked at her belly and said, "Derek, I'm not really free until this goes away. I feel all icky and gross with this baby, his baby. I like you. I don't want your kisses and touches to be mixed up with the feeling of him. We have time, Derek. We are both going to the school on Earth." Derek kissed her hair, "I **will** keep waiting for you, Abby. There's nobody but you for me."

In the lab, Stephen kissed Patience. Patience pulled away, "This isn't a good idea, Stephen. You are going to school on Eden Prime and I'm going to Earth." "We can still text each other." "I'm only 13. Five years is a long time to be in different solar systems. No, Stephen. After you go to Eden Prime, I will text you and all, but I just want to be friends." Stephen sighed and said, "Alright, Patience."

Steve put his hands on Emory's shoulders, "Hey, don't you think you could suspend studying for our wedding day?" Emory turned his computer display off, "Isn't it bad luck for the groom to see his intended before the wedding on the day of?" Steve said, "I thought that since Robert is at daycare . . . " Emory stood up and turned to Steve. Emory reached up and cradled Steve's head and kissed him. Emory felt a wave of exhaustion overcome him. He laid his head on Steve's shoulder and hugged him, "I'm sorry, Steve. I should have slept some this morning, after Robert was up most of the night. But this question kept eating at me and I had to look it up and well, I'm really tired." Steve said, "Then go lay down and rest. I'll go check on Max and the other kids." Steve kissed Emory lightly then walked him to the bed. "Sleep, not study. I don't want you yawning through your vows."


	101. Chapter 101

Chapter 101

Clowder and EDI hung a screen in the med bay across from Taylor's bed. EDI said, "Samantha, we are ready."

Cassidy walked with Janelle into the med bay, then said, "Karin, Taylor directed most of her anger at me. I'll excuse myself for this time." Karin said, "We'll let you know if we need you, Cassidy." Cassidy left

The screen lit up with an image of the comm room on the Philippines. Colonel Klein stepped into the room, "Dr Chakwas, I presume." Karin said, "Dr Klein, this is Dr Carsel Grixen, and that is Lt Janelle Van Atta, Taylor's foster parent." Klein said, "Let me verify this information before you wake her. She was first one taken by the second of three lieutenants of the Prophet and the first to get pregnant?" Janelle said "No, sir, she was the first to be taken by the second lieutenant, but the second to get pregnant."

Karin added, "The first pregnant one was a girl named Megan. We sent her body off this morning. Her son was adopted by Lieutenants Ken and Gabby Daniels Donnelly, engineers." Klein made wrote something on a pad he had, "So, this Megan was taken by the first lieutenant?" Janelle said, "Yes, sir." Klein asked, "Taylor's son was adopted by Lt Commander Steve Cortez, shuttle pilot and Lt Emory Norquist, medical technician?" Karin said, "The adoption ceremony is happening immediately after the wedding in an hour or so."

Klein said, "She's the eldest child of three, two sisters, Amber and Jade, on Terra Nova?" Janelle said, "Yes, sir, that's the report I received." Klein asked, "Van Atta, how did you come to be her foster parent?" Janelle said, "The Admiral asked for volunteers to foster, I threw my name into the pot. The Admiral interviewed the kids and assigned Taylor to me." Klein asked, "How did you feel about this assignment?" Janelle said, "Challenged, sir. Grateful that the Admiral trusted this responsibility to me. I have come to feel very protective about Taylor, sir. My goal is to adopt her and her sisters." Karin added, "Lt Van Atta has been at Taylor's side most of the time. I put Van Atta on medical leave, so she could get some rest and continue to focus on Taylor."

Klein said, "EDI can monitor her condition?" EDI said, "Yes, Colonel." Klein said, "Alright then, wake her, but then you all leave before she clears her head. Go get ready for the wedding." Karin inserted a syringe into Taylor's IV line and adjusted a control. She and Carsel adjusted Taylor's bed so she could easily see the screen. Janelle put a cup with straw of water on the table next to the bed. Karin motioned Janelle and Carsel out ahead of her.

Taylor roused. She looked around and focused on the screen. "Who the fuck are you . . and why are you on a comm rather than in here with me?" Taylor looked at the table and took the cup of water and put the straw in her mouth. "I am Colonel Charles Klein, I am a psychiatrist in the Alliance Army. I am not on the Normandy, but on the Philippines, a ship in the Sol System."

Taylor asked, "Why are you talking to me?" Klein asked, "Why do you think?" Taylor said, "Because I tried to check out?" Klein asked, "Why do you think you tried to do that?" Taylor said, "I was so goddamned angry. I asked to go back and that damn bitch Admiral said no." "Do you feel angry still?" "Not so much. It's kind of removed. I can remember that I felt that way, but I don't feel it." "We are regulating your brain chemistry with a synthetic implant. Keeping your levels from spiking."

Taylor said, "They put a chip in my brain?" Klein said, "Its much more reliable and individual than the pills that used to be used for treatment. Tell me about your family, as you were in the months before the Reaper attack." "My mom and dad were divorcing. I hung out with Dana and Jordan and Dustin most of the time, to stay out of the house and the yelling. Amber and Jade where whiny and needy." "So you had something to be angry about to start with?" "I was mad at my mom and dad. I don't know why they couldn't get along, maybe it was about me not keeping Amber and Jade in line enough."

Klein said, "Tell me about the day the Reapers came." "We were on an FFA field trip. Dana, Jordan, Dustin and me and some others were in one shuttle, along with Mr Tembras and our pilot. Miss Rivers had the other shuttle. We were in the hybridization lab when the alarm went off. We got back on our shuttles and were lifting off when we were caught in an explosion. Miss Rivers, one of the pilots, Wendell, Joey and Erica were dead or unconscious. Mr Tembras and the other pilot helped us get out. We got the door open and climbed out."

Taylor continued, "We saw these balls of fire come down out of the sky then we could see monsters. The pilot yelled at us to run, so we ran for the woods on the edge of the lab grounds. We went through the woods to the road and a big farm truck was coming up the road. The driver saw us and stopped and told us to hop in, he would take us to safety. I don't know what happened to the pilot or Mr Tembras. They weren't with us when we came out of the woods."

Taylor said, "The truck took us to a mountain tunnel. He stopped in the middle of the tunnel and turned left to an opening and we went into the mountain. The opening closed behind us and he parked. Then he led us to an elevator and we took turns going way, way down into abandoned mining tunnels. That's when we met the Prophet.

Taylor said, "The Prophet set us to cooking, cleaning, making bowls, spoons, blankets and cots for ourselves. He put the girls in one tunnel and the boys in another. He said he had seen that he would have guests, so he was not surprised that we were there."

Klein asked, "How long did you stay in the mining tunnels?" Taylor said, "Weeks. It felt like months. Every few days or so, one of the men would climb up to the surface and bring back supplies and news of what he saw. When there were three trips in a row with no Reaper reports, the Prophet said it was time to emerge from the darkness."

Klein asked, "What then?" Taylor said, "We went back up the elevator and onto the farm truck and another truck. They drove us to into a forest and to a big house, probably a ranger station? We set up there and he set us to cutting lumber and building the out buildings. That first night, he held a ceremony, a memorial for all the people that were gone. He said we were the only ones left because his vision had led him to prepare a place to survive. He told each of us to put a leaf into the fire for every one of our family that was gone and to say something about them."

Klein asked, "When did the Prophet take the first girl?" Taylor said, "Just a few days after we had come out of the mine. We had settled into a daily pattern of building, farming, hunting, cooking, making, mending and cleaning. That evening, he called us together for a gathering and said that it was time to begin to repopulate the planet. He said the boys weren't men yet, so they would have to wait for the next generation. He said Dana would be first among the mothers of the world. He had her get up and come to the center. She was crying, quietly, but she went down there."

Taylor swallowed, then went on. "He told her to strip naked. She froze and stared at him. He slapped her hard across her face and knocked her on her ass. He said if she didn't strip he would hit her again. Zachary stood up, but Jake hit him in the stomach with the butt of his rifle. Dana yelled, 'Leave him alone.' The Prophet told Jake to hit Zachary again if she didn't strip right away. She took her clothes off. The Prophet bent her over a workbench down there and fucked her in front of God and everybody. When he was done, he said that Dana was his first wife." Taylor wiped tears from her face.

Klein asked, "How did you feel about things at that point?" Taylor said, "Scared. I didn't know what his next step would be. I though I might be next because I am the same age as Dana."

Klein asked, "EDI, are they into the dinner part of the evening yet?" "No, doctor, but a tray could be prepared and brought up." "Please arrange that, EDI. Chesa, could I have a dinner tray delivered here, please. That way, Miss Klein Davis and I can dine together." Chesa said, "I have relayed your request to the galley, doctor."

"Thank you, Chesa."

Taylor asked, "Who is Chesa?" Klein said, "She is the ship's AI, much like EDI is for the Normandy." Taylor asked, "Does she have a robot body to walk around in, like EDI?" Klein said, "Not yet, though I understand that eventually she will." Taylor said, "I think the ship's pilot likes EDI, like romantically. He is fostering David. David was joking last night that he might get a roboMom." Klein asked, "Does that bother you?" Taylor said, "It seems weird, you know, because I never thought of there being a real AI running around like a person, or I guess as a real person. She seems nice."

Janelle came in with a tray. She put the dinner tray on the desk, then searched and found the tray table attachment and brought it up over Taylor's lap and snapped it in place. She put the dinner tray there. Taylor quietly said, "Thank you, Lieutenant." Janelle said, "You are most welcome, Taylor." Janelle left.

Klein accepted a tray, a folding chair and a tray table on his end. He set things up and sat to his dinner. He asked, "What did you get?" Taylor said, "It looks like scallops and shrimp over noodles." Klein said, "I have grilled fish."

Klein asked, "Do you know your sisters are alive on Terra Nova?" Taylor stopped lifting her fork. "What? Amber and Jade are out there?" Klein nodded, "You have not been in a condition to receive this news until now." Taylor said, "Where on Terra Nova, with who?" Klein said, "In an orphanage with other siblings of your friends. Apparently shuttles of children from TipTree must have been treated as a group."

Klein asked, "What do you think about Lt Van Atta?" Taylor swallowed her bite. "I didn't want to like her, because I was mad at the Admiral and the Admiral chose the Lieutenant for me." Klein said, "You didn't want to, but now?" "She was up front but nice last night, but I didn't want her to be straight up and nice. She was there this morning when I woke up. And now she brought my dinner, like she wanted to."

Klein said, "Your doctors there tell me she has been sitting with you most of the time since last night. I understand from reports that she found you after you poisoned yourself and did the initial CPR until help could come." Taylor said, "But that's her job, right, as foster parent?" Klein said, "Do you think she doesn't care?" Taylor thought a minute, then said, "How can she care, she's only known about me for a day or so?" Klein said, "What do you think? What did she choose to do for a living, what kind of person is she?" Taylor said, "She's a marine. Their motto is to serve and protect."

Klein asked, "What about the Admiral? Are you mad at her?" Taylor said, "Yes and no. A few weeks after picking Dana, Dana got her period, so the Prophet knew she wasn't pregnant yet. Reece came and told me that the Prophet was going to pick Jordan for himself and let them pick a girl for each of themselves. Reece said he had to pick after Jake, but he hoped he would get to pick me. He gave me a pill, said to take it when the Prophet called for the gathering. He said the pill would make me feel not embarrassed out there. He also gave me some sort of plant pod. He told me to wait until just before the gathering, then break the pod open and smear the goop onto my inside. He told me that would make it so he (or Jake) and I didn't get rubbing burns. So, he was being nice to me. Trying to make things easier on me."

Taylor continued, "The gathering came, but Jordan and Dustin didn't show up. The Prophet got really mad and told the men to follow him, except Ed. Ed stayed back to keep an eye on us. The Prophet said for Ed to shoot anybody that got up from their positions. I was getting a little loopy and silly by that point. It seemed like forever, but finally they came back with Jordan and Dustin tied up and they dumped them in the center. I should have been horrified, but I wasn't."

Taylor said, "The Prophet said that Jordan and Dustin were traitors. He took his rifle and shot them dead. Again, I didn't feel the revulsion, like I should have. He made Reece and Ed carry them out. He told Jake to pick his girl and 'get on with it'. Jake picked Megan. Megan didn't seem at all surprised, she just calmly went down there and took off her clothes. Jake wasn't quite done with Megan when Reece and Ed came back in. The Prophet growled at Reece to make his pick. Reece looked at me and called my name. I was sort of sad when I went, but like Reece had told me, I wasn't at all embarrassed to take my clothes off and take Megan's place on the work bench. When Reece was done, he led me over to a seat and said for Vivian to get my clothes and help me get dressed again.

Taylor went on, "I must've been fairly far gone on the pill because I don't remember much of what happened the rest of that evening. The next morning I woke up next to Reece in his bed. He didn't say anything, so I got up and did my chores like any other day. Abby said she was so sorry for what they did to me. I told Abby that I had been high on a pill and didn't remember much. She told me that Ed had picked Haley and then the Prophet had taken Rachel. I felt nauseous over Jordan and Dustin and Megan, Haley and Rachel, but not for me."

Taylor said, "Reece was distant, but polite. He didn't touch me. I slept in his bed every night and did my usual chores every day. Then my period came. When it was over, he said he was sorry but he would have to try again. He gave me another pill and another pod. We did it in his bed and I resolved that I was going to be a good wife to him, because he was being nice to me."

Taylor sighed, "So, I am mad at the Admiral for making me break my promise to myself. I would have gone back and been Reece's wife and mother to our children. But now, I feel some of the horror of what Reece allowed to go on and was a part of. The Admiral is right, he's a criminal, mostly because he helped capture Jordan and Dustin and bring them back, and for agreeing to take the younger girls. She was doing the right thing by taking all of the minors away from them, giving us a chance to finish school and choose our lives. So, yes and no, on being mad at her."

Taylor looked up at the screen, tears tracking down her face. Klein said, "I want you to promise me, out loud that you will not attempt to harm yourself tonight. Can you do that?" Taylor said, "I want to see my sisters again. I promise I won't hurt myself." Klein said, "Then I will meet with you again tomorrow for lunch, in the Normandy's comm room, OK?" Taylor said, "OK, sir."

Klein said, "EDI, let Dr Chakwas and Lt Van Atta know that I am ready to leave Taylor in their care." Taylor and Klien finished their dinners while they waited. Karin and Janelle came in and Klein said, "Philippines out."


	102. Chapter 102

Chapter 102

Down in the mess hall, Steve and Emory were at a table, Emory holding Robert while music played and folks came to congratulate them. Garrus and Cassidy were dancing. Garrus said in her ear, "This formal uniform of yours makes me want you, almost as much as those Kaleera outfits did." Cassidy smiled, "Only a turian could be turned on by this."

Garrus said, "Well, I like the view of you in your armor, and in your swimsuit, and hmm, maybe its not the outfit, but the woman filling it out." Cassidy kissed Garrus. Dizzy danced by with Irene and said, "6 inches, kids." Cassidy laughed.

Cassidy said, "I want to go change before our comm with Melanie. We could take a few extra minutes, if you would like." Garrus led her over to the edge of the dance area and out of the dance, "Yes, I would like." Cassidy checked, Paktal was in Solana's arms, Wendy was with Ashley and Rachel, Christopher was with Thane, David and Trenton. Thane caught Cassidy's eye and nodded.

Garrus and Cassidy went up to the cabin and already had clasps undone. Cassidy slipped her jacket onto the bed and Garrus opened his fly. He picked her up and backed her against the fish tank, pushing her skirt up and her panties aside, letting her sink onto his cock. She wrapped her legs around him. He pumped hard and fast, holding her up with his arms. He came in short order.

He carried her to the bed and gently laid her down on it. He leaned down and kissed her deep and long.

She gathered her fatigues and went to the bathroom and took a quick shower and changed. She and Garrus went back down to the mess hall and gathered Christopher, Wendy and Paktal. They all went to the comm room. Cassidy said, "EDI, patch in my mother into our comm with Melanie whenever she's ready."

Cassidy said, "EDI, please pull the available adoption candidates ages 8 and up from both Eden Prime and Terra Nova facilities while we're connected." Garrus said, "Why are you doing that?" Cassidy said, "The list for Thane." Garrus said, "Hm, okay."

At 1930, Melanie's image came up, "Hi Mom! Hi Dad and Wendy!" She looked curiously at Christopher then looked at Cassidy. Hannah's image came on. "Well, its good to see you all. Hello, young man." Christopher said, "Hello, ma'am." Cassidy said, "Melanie, Mom, this is Christopher, he is 13. We just rescued him and his friends yesterday off of TipTree. He has a brother, Alexander, who is 11 and is in an orphanage on Terra Nova. We are going to adopt Christopher and Alexander as soon as we can get to TipTree to get Alexander."

Melanie said, "That's great, Mom! Welcome, Christopher! I know we won't have much chance to get to know each other, but I look forward to seeing you briefly before you head to school." Hannah said, "Well, you may call me 'Grandma' as soon as you please, Christopher. Where are you going to go to school?" "They said they are making a new live-in school in Iowa, on Earth, ma'am, uh, Grandma. That's where I will go and Alexander will finish middle school on the ship before he goes there too."

Hannah said, "I will take care of letting Adrien and Garvin know. If you can arrange to be on Palaven to let the boys meet Adrien, let me know and I'll take a couple days to join you all. I'm sorry I can't linger. There are issues I have to deal with here. I love you all! Krueger Victus out."

Cassidy asked, "Melanie, how are Mike and Huiqing?" Melanie said, "They're fine. I'm going to move up to the next level of classes before they are, my instructor says probably right after winter break. We are going to have a 4 day break in a couple weeks, maybe we can time the visit with Grandpa Adrien for then?" Cassidy said, "We'll see how it works out. That's all I can say right now. Steve Cortez and Lt Emory Norquist got married this evening." Melanie said, "Tell Steve that I'm happy for him. Hey, Christopher, have they taught you to play Bridge yet?" Christopher said, "Yea, last night they taught me and my friend Trenton, and Vivian, too."

Melanie said, "I spent last weekend with Grandpa Garvin on the Citadel. He's a bit formal, Christopher, but he appreciates all of the family. I look forward to seeing you all when you get back here." Cassidy said, "Alright then, honey. Take care and we'll get back as soon as we can. Love you." Wendy said, "Love you, Melanie!" Melanie said, "Love you all! Bye." Cassidy said, "Bye, sweetheart. EDI, did you get the file?" EDI said, "Yes, Admiral, sending it to your account now." Cassidy said, "Normandy out. EDI, send that file to Thane as well, please."

Cassidy and Garrus took the kids upstairs and called it a night.

Cassidy had breakfast with Liara. When they got through the day's agenda, Cassidy asked, "How's it going with Javik?" Liara sighed, "Something about your reaction to the cult situation really sent him into a funk. I think it has to do with the ages of the girls. He had been a very strong proponent of biological and evolutionary forces. Now we have a situation where biology runs ahead of social forces. The girls are old enough to reproduce, yet there are laws to reduce the incidence of them reproducing until they are older, under the idea that their emotional maturity needs time to catch up. Your strong condemnation of the men's behavior in causing all the pregnancies really caught him by surprise. I think he's trying to bend his head around that. So, he has been distant these past couple days."

Cassidy asked, "What do you think about the issue?" Liara said, "Our culture strongly encourages us to wait a couple centuries before we settle down with daughters. Our Maiden phase is basically like your wild rebellious years, except ours lasts for decades. We are capable of reproducing at about 8 or 9 decades, but we don't have the internal drive to do so like humans or krogan. But, to answer your question, I believe your culture is wise to protect the teens and give them a chance to finish growing up. The youngest ones, Vivian, Shannon and Patience are so small compared to the adults, and the boys also show quite a difference as well."

Cassidy said, "While mining is going on today, I want to go check out some coordinates I got from Wendy's mother's message. Want to come along?" "Sure. Anybody else coming?" Cassidy said, "Ashley and Thane."

Garrus stood in the cargo bay and watched Steve lift off to take them on their trip. They traveled to the southern hemisphere and over water. They came in to the remains of a large city. Steve settled the shuttle down in a park area next to a building that was burnt down to the foundation. Steve said, "The coordinates put the spot just a couple meters out the starboard door, Admiral."

Cassidy took a folded shoved and Ashley took the shovel from her. Cassidy said, "Ashley, I know you don't want me overworking myself, but I'd feel better if you kept your weapon out looking for feral animals." Ashley said, "Point taken, Cassidy." Ashley handed the shovel back. They opened the door.

Cassidy followed the arrow on her omni-tool and stopped when it indicated. She unfolded the shovel and began to dig. After just a couple efforts, the blade struck on something metallic. Cassidy started uncovering the box.

Ashley said, "Contact at my 1030. Looks like a dog." Thane sighted and shot. He said, "Cassidy please hurry. I believe we are being surrounded by a large pack of feral dogs." Ashley shot a spray with her assault rifle and Thane said, "They have stopped for a moment, probably so the leader can assess us." Ashley said, "We should go now, Cassidy." Cassidy pulled the box out of the dirt and backed into the shuttle. Thane got in and put himself between Cassidy and the door.

A canine growling came from one side and a feline snarl answered. A hiss and a yelp. Then a small streak headed straight for the shuttle followed by a bigger streak. Liara caught the bigger streak, a big mastiff, in a lift. Ashley sent out another spray and said, "Get in, Liara!" Liara and Ashley jumped in and closed the door as Liara pushed the charging dogs away.

Cassidy looked around for what had run into the shuttle with them. Ashley sat down and said, "Oops!" She got up and turned to find a cat with a massively matted and dirty coat of long fur. The cat said, "Mreow?" It put a paw on Ashley's thigh and rubbed its head on her hand, purring. Cassidy said, "I think he or she has a collar under there, Ash." Ashley scratched the cat's ears and dug into the fur to look at the collar. Ashley said, "The collar is leather, dyed purple with rhinestones dotted around it. Oh, there's a tag. Hand on, kitty, we'll get you ID'd here in a moment. The tag says this is "Beauty" and it gives contact numbers and a license number."

Liara said, "I think Beauty has chosen you to be her rescuer, Ashley." Ashley sat down and let Beauty crawl in her lap. Ashley said, "I think we need to shave you and treat you for fleas before we bring you aboard the Normandy, Beauty." Steve said, "There might be a pet supplies store with stock intact. I can look." Ashley said, "She must have been exhausted, she's asleep."

Steve checked and found a VI still functioning. It was for a security company, and within its client files were a couple different pet supply stores. Steve flew to the nearest address. It was in a mall. Steve flew through the broken skylight over the central food area and down one of the arms, landing in front of an open storefront. They opened the door and Cassidy, Thane and Liara got out. Cassidy went into the store, which looked relatively intact. She could see in the food aisles that all the bagged food had been torn open and emptied.

She grabbed a shopping basket and went through the aisles and found grooming materials. She grabbed a shaver, combs and nail clippers. She took a couple kitty sleeping cups, food and water bowls and anti-flea & tick goop. She went back and put that basket in the shuttle. Then she went back and grabbed a cat-tower, needing assembly. She took that to the shuttle and went back in. She went through to the stocking area of the store and found pallets of canned cat food up high. She looked around and found a fork-lift.

Cassidy got on the fork lift and worked with it until she got the tines at the right level to get the pallet loaded. She brought the pallet down and drove the forklift through the doors and down the aisle to the front of the store. She put the pallet down in front of the shuttle door.

Cassidy got off the fork lift and walked back to the back of the store. She saw a walled off grooming area. She said, "Ashley, bring Beauty back here. There's a grooming area where we can work on her in comfort." Ashley came back and they went in to the grooming area where low level lights came on. Cassidy said, "Must be a capacitor for this somewhere, probably solar fed. They put Beauty on a table and Cassidy picked up a shaver. Ashley held Beauty and Cassidy carefully started shaving off hanks of dirty matted fur. Beauty purred during the operation.

After the shave, they clipped her nails. Cassidy said, "She's being amazingly cooperative." Ashley said, "It looks like she was a pampered pet. She probably hated being so dirty and disheveled."

Cassidy looked at a boxed in space. She went and read the directions. "Ash, this is a de-flea thing. We put Beauty in here and turn it on. It briefly spritzes her everywhere with the medicine, then waits the required time before opening so we won't get it on us. Cassidy opened the door and Ashley put Beauty in. Ashley hit the Start button. Beauty let out a "Mrrowlack!" and sneezed, but otherwise stood still for the process.

They went to leave and Ashley said, "I think we should get a carrier, too." Cassidy went and grabbed two and pads to line them with. Cassidy said, "The other one is for Fred." Ashley grabbed some cat toys. Cassidy scanned the corporate info for the store and sent payment to the account with an explanatory notation attached.

They went back out, where the entire pallet was packed onto the shuttle. They had to walk on top of cases of food, but they all managed to squeeze in. On the way up, Cassidy and Liara and Thane got one of the carriers put together. Cassidy put the pad in and then Ashley got Beauty to go in and curl up. Ashley closed her in. Cassidy said, "Does Franklin like cats?" Ashley said, "He'd better." Thane laughed.

Cassidy asked, "Did you find anything you want to pursue in that file, Thane?" Thane asked, "Have you looked at it?" Cassidy said, "No, I haven't." Thane said, "There is a drell girl listed, with an entry for a human brother. The girl is 9 and the brother is 8. They are on Eden Prime at one of the smaller facilities. The entries have a link to an annotation that remarks that Kahje refused to take the girl, since she is 'outside the Compact'." Cassidy said, "I'll see if we can get a comm to that facility. I'll let you know."

They landed on the Normandy. Thane got out and assisted Cassidy to get out. Chloe and Rachel came over. Rachel said, "Ashley, what's that? Oh, she's adorable. Why is she shaved?" Ashley said, "Her name is Beauty. We have quite a bit to move over to my room. Why don't you get some friends to help us unload the shuttle." Thane helped Liara out then took the cat carrier while Ashley climbed out. Thane put the carrier down and started unloading stuff.

Callista walked up to the carrier. She sat in front of the door and said, "Meerack". Beauty said, "Mrrowl." then got up and put her nose through a space in the grill. Callista put her nose near and sniffed, then she touched noses with Beauty. Beauty curled back up and Callista walked off.

Cassidy found Wendy's box and took that up to the cabin. She resisted the urge to look in and put it in a drawer to keep for Wendy. Cassidy said, "EDI, can you connect me to Chesa?" EDI said, "Do you wish to override Taylor's appointment with Dr Klein, which is due to begin momentarily?" Cassidy looked at the clock and said, "Ah, lunchtime. No, I'll wait until Dr Klein is done with Taylor."

EDI asked, "What do you mean to accomplish, Admiral?" Cassidy said, "I want to have Chesa make a connection to an orphanage on Eden Prime, so Thane can communicate with them." EDI said, "Chesa says she will be pleased to make the connection once Dr Klein is done with the QEC." Cassidy said, "Let Thane know when Chesa is ready." EDI said, "Aye, aye, Admiral."

_[July 26, 2013 – This story just got its 50th follower today and I'd like to celebrate. So, I'll collect any ideas you care to submit, my followers, and I'll let my muse choose. I'll fit in a special chapter for you. Don't wait too long, though. emilywong'seditor.]_


	103. Chapter 103

Chapter 103

Cassidy went down to lunch. Garrus updated her on the mining operation, "It looks like we may be able to get all of our material at this site, if the veins remain close to the surface beyond our worked area. At the rate we're going, today and three more days should do it."

Milin said, "Admiral, the Norquist Cortez family suite is on schedule. We have a couple of the boys that are helping, Noah and Max." Solana said, "Gabby, Soth and I are handling engineering, Cassidy. Soth has taken Ken's station and is doing a competent job."

Stephen came up, "Excuse me please, Admiral. I would like to go down to the surface to collect vegetation to use as raw materials for the converter." Cassidy said, "Stephen, this is the Advisor's decision as he is organizing the surface activities." Garrus said, "Your foster parent will need to accompany you. I will add you and Ensign Copeland to the next trip down." Stephen said, "Thank you, sir."

As lunch was winding down, Thane said, "EDI informed me that I may speak with the orphanage soon. Siha, will you accompany me and speak on my behalf when they inquire concerning my lack of available background information." Cassidy said, "Yes, let's go." They went to the comm room. As they were approaching, Taylor was coming out. She was carrying Fred with his front paws on her shoulder, purring in her ear.

Taylor stopped and turned to Cassidy, "Admiral, I'm sorry for blaming you. I know you did the right thing for us. I am looking forward to seeing my sisters." Cassidy said, "I understand, Taylor. I see you've made a friend." Taylor said, "He followed me into the comm room and jumped in my lap. He's a very affectionate kitty." Cassidy said, "That's Fred." Taylor smiled slightly and walked on.

In the comm room, a couple seamen set up a screen in the comm room on the Philippines. Chesa said, "Contacting the Mt Vernon Children's Home in Mt Vernon on Eden Prime." A man's face came on the screen. "Normandy, this is the Mt Vernon Children's Home. I am Gerard Miller, adoption counselor. What can I do for you?" Thane said, "I wish to inquire about Anellya Rone and Caleb Van De Vooren." Miller said, "Have you downloaded the public information on those two?" Thane said, "Yes, sir. I understand that Kahje declined to accept Anellya."

Miller said, "Anellya and Caleb are available for adoption. Before any commitments are made, I'd like you to speak to these two. I'm calling for them to come down. While we're waiting, let's establish identification. Your name?" "Thane Krios." "Planet of origin?" "Kahje" "Employment?" "Alliance allied crew, assigned to the Normandy." "Looking you up . . . I'm sorry, your records appear to be unavailable. Do you have another source of verification?"

Cassidy said, "I am Rear Admiral Cassidy Shepard Victus Vakarian, commanding the Normandy." Miller looked intently at her. "My goodness, so it is. Admiral, let me say it is an honor." Cassidy said, "Because of Mr Krios' sensitive work, the record of this adoption will need to be sealed." "Understood, Admiral. Here are the children."

The screen filled with the faces of a blond boy and a drell girl. The girl said, "Hello, sere." The boy said, "Hi! You are like Nelly." Thane said, "I am Thane Krios. If you become my daughter and son, you will come to live with me on a ship. This is the ship's commanding officer, Admiral Shepard Victus Vakarian. You will have an older brother, his name is Kolyat and he is on Kahje now preparing to marry. Do you think you want such a life?"

Anellya looked at Caleb and then back. "We have never been on a ship. My parents came to Eden Prime before my birth." Thane said, "It might take some time to get used to the small spaces, but there are other youth on the ship with whom you may socialize." Caleb said, "Being adopted on a ship is better than staying here." Anellya said, "I agree, Caleb."

Miller came back on. "Are you in agreement, Anellya, Caleb? Good. Mr Krios, when can you get here to pick them up?" Cassidy said, "Approximately a week, Mr Miller. We will inform you when our ETA becomes more certain." Miller said, "I will change their status to adoption pending. We will finish the formalities when you arrive. We wish you good luck in whatever the Normandy is doing." Cassidy said, "Anything more, Thane?" Thane said, "Not at this time, Admiral." Cassidy said, "Normandy out."

The image faded away. Cassidy hugged Thane, "Congratulations, Thane." "May I kiss you, siha?" Cassidy tilted her head up and Thane kissed her in joy and gratitude.

That evening, the crew celebrated Derek's birthday.

Three days later, the raw material had been collected and delivered to the relay and the last of the fragments had been returned. Cassidy stood behind Joker as the glow from the rings on the relay faded. Joker said, "EDI and I are going to push the adoption with David. I know you'll shame the courts into siding for her." Cassidy said, "Damn right I will." Joker said, "That's our Shepard. We should get you a ceremonial golden sheep hook to carry. You know, to whack the idiots with."

Cassidy asked, "EDI, what time will it be on Terra Nova when we arrive?" EDI said, "We should achieve orbit at 0843 in Banok's day, Admiral." Joker said, "Relay's ready, Admiral. The Alberta and her group are on the other side. They are jumping."

The cruiser Alberta and 6 frigates appeared on their screen. EDI said, "Captain Margaret Bohl is hailing." Cassidy said, "Put it through." "Normandy, this is the Alberta." Cassidy said, "Margaret, good to hear your voice!" "Cassidy! Its been too long, sister. We're going to go do a detailed scan of TipTree and see if we can't corral your three miscreants." Cassidy said, "Have fun. We're going to Terra Nova and reunite some families." "I hear you have quite the family now. We'll have to catch up some time. Take care, girlfriend!" Cassidy said, "You, too. Normandy out."

Cassidy said, "Jump us out of here, Joker. I'm heading down to dinner." Joker said, "I'll be down there after the jump, Admiral."

A few hours later, they arrived at Terra Nova and took a position over Banok. Cassidy filled Dizzy's shuttle with: Taylor and Janelle; Abby, Dana and Diana; and Kyley and Samantha and EDI. Then onto Steve's shuttle went: Max, Steve, Emory and Robert; Vivian and Karin; Christopher, Cassidy, Garrus, Wendy and Paktal.

Cassidy had reserved a community center near the Banok Home for Children to use for the reunions. The shuttles landed and everybody got out. Cassidy led the way inside. In the lobby a woman came forward, "I am Stella Krocker, adoption counselor for our facility." Cassidy said, "I am Rear Admiral Cassidy Shepard Victus Vakarian, captain of the Normandy." Krocker said, "I have set up 6 rooms, one for each of the families. Once everybody has had time, I'll come to each room in turn and witness the adoptions." Krocker smiled, "This is such an exciting day for our facility."

Cassidy introduced Taylor and Janelle and Krocker sent them to Room 3. Cassidy heard squeals of delight when Taylor opened that door. Abby, Dana and Diana were sent to Room 5. Kyley and Samantha went to Room 4. Max and Steve went to Room 2. Vivian and Karin went to Room 6. Christopher, Cassidy and family were escorted to Room 1.

Christopher and Alexander hugged. Alexander pulled back and wiped the tears off his face. Christopher said, "Xander, this is Paktal, Wendy, Advisor Garrus and Admiral Cassidy Shepard Victus Vakarian. They want us to become part of their family. I want to. Do you?" Alexander said, "Sure, Topher." Christopher said, "There's another sister, Melanie, she's 16 and away at school. I met Grandma Hannah the other day. She commands the carrier Selk'nam. There's also a Grandpa Adrien, he's Primarch on Palaven and a Grandpa Garvin, he's Executor on the Citadel." Alexander said, "Wow, that's a lot of family."

Krocker came in with EDI. Krocker said, "EDI said she's here to record the adoptions." Cassidy said, "That's correct." Krocker led them through the affirmations and acceptances of duties and responsibilities. Krocker, "Christopher, how do you want you name to read?" Christopher said, "Christopher Banks Hall Shepard Victus Vakarian." Alexander said, "I want mine the same, just Alexander instead of Christopher." Krocker said, "So, Alexander Banks Hall Shepard Victus Vakarian?" "Yes, ma'am."

Cassidy hugged and kissed both boys on the tops of their heads. Cassidy said, "I should go with you for the rest, Ms Krocker, since I'm still officially the guardian for the rest of the ship kids." Wendy went up to hug Alexander. Cassidy went out with Krocker and EDI.

Steve and Emory adopted Max, Miguel and Ruby and the three took their family names as Morales Norquist Cortez.

In Room 3, Taylor, Amber and Jade accepted their adoption by Janelle. Taylor kept her name the same, but Amber and Jade changed to Klein Davis Van Atta.

In Room 4, Samantha adopted Edward and Kyley. Edward didn't change but Kyley became Phillips Traynor.

In Room 5, Diana adopted Dana, Gary, Abby and Lea. All four added Allers to their names.

In Room 6, Karin adopted Rafael and Vivian. Rafael didn't change. Vivian added Chakwas to her name.

The shuttles went up heavier than they came down.

Cassidy went with Ken, Gabby and Blake back down to Terra Nova to the home of Lydia Garcia. Lydia let them in and led them to the dining room where lunch was laid out. Lydia introduced Darlene and Thomas, Megan's siblings. Cassidy said, "I'm so sorry we couldn't save Megan. This is Lt Ken Donnelly and Lt Gabby Daniels Donnelly, both engineers on the Normandy. They adopted Megan's son, named him Blake Villareal Daniels Donnelly." Lydia sadly said, "I read the report the Alliance sent me. I'm glad you adopted him. I don't have the energy to take on a baby. Its enough for me to keep up with these two."

Cassidy handed her an OSD, "This has the video of the funeral service we held for Megan." Lydia took the OSD, looked at it for a moment, then put it on a side table. "Thank you, Admiral." Gabby said, "This is the school flag they had over her casket." Lydia said, "You keep that, for Blake." Gabby said, "We will, ma'am."

They finished the meal and Lydia sent Darlene and Thomas out to the back yard. She turned back and got a form off the bureau. She said, "I am the only thing standing between those two and an orphanage. Since you two took Megan's son, I'm hoping you will agree to take Darlene and Thomas if something should happen to me. Keep as much family together as we can." Ken said, "Aye, Ms Garcia, we'll take them if need be." Gabby said, "Yes, we will." Ken and Gabby signed the form. Cassidy signed as a witness.

Darlene called from the back door, "Can I now?" Lydia said, "Alright, Darlene, go get it." Darlene ran through the house, pounded up the stairs, then pounded back down. Lydia winced then glared at Darlene when she came in, "What have I told you about running in the house, young lady?" Darlene said, "I'm sorry, Aunt Lydia." Darlene turned to Gabby and said, "I'm learning to knit. I made this baby blanket for Blake." She unfurled a small navy blue blanket. She said, "Its in baby yarn, so its soft. I made it in ribbing pattern so its very stretchy." She put her arms out to show the blanket's stretch. Gabby said, "Thank you very much, Darlene. It will be quite useful. I'll make sure he knows who made it when he gets old enough."

Cassidy, Ken, Gabby and Blake returned to the ship. Cassidy went back down with Thane and Trenton.

They arrived a stately home in the country. They were admitted by a butler, "Good afternoon, Admiral. Madame Mills will see you in the parlor. This way, please." Mrs Mills greeted them in the parlor. She hugged Trenton then held him at arm's length. "Trenton, you have grown a great deal since I last got a picture from your mother. God rest her soul. I'm sorry Aston couldn't be here. He is sitting exams at school. He will be here on break next week."

Mrs Mills held her hand out and shook Cassidy's then Thane's. The butler brought in a cart with tea service. They all sat. Mrs Mills took her tea and waited until everyone had been served. She said, "Admiral, I am extremely grateful that you were able to rescue Trenton and his friends. I wish to help his friends and their siblings who don't have family remaining. I am transferring a fund to your control. Distribute it if necessary, but if you have flexibility, I suggest leaving it invested and use the monthly dividends to distribute. Mr Krios, I appreciate your effort in fostering Trenton this past week. I have transferred to your control a small fund you may use as you see fit."

They finished tea. Trenton hugged Thane and shook Cassidy's hand. The butler showed them out.

On the way up, Cassidy checked the fund Mrs Crow had given her. She held her breath for a moment, "Twenty billion is just 'a fund'? No wonder she suggested leaving it invested." Thane checked his, "Apparently a small fund is a million. I believe I will leave this invested and reinvest the dividends. Then Anellya and Caleb can split it when they need money to start their own families."


	104. Chapter 104

Chapter 104

While Cassidy was out, EDI said to Joker, "I will accompany David tomorrow to get the things he needs." Joker replied, "I'm not sure that you would be safe in a public place. AI's are still like the bogeyman to many folks. I can go and he can push me in that chair Chakwas has." EDI said, "If you would let Dr Chakwas go ahead with the treatment program she proposed, you wouldn't need the wheelchair or other assistive devices." Joker said, "That doesn't relate to our decision right now. I will go with him."

EDI said, "I agree, you and David will go down and use the wheelchair in the mall. However, I would like to understand why you have not agreed to the treatment plan." Joker said, "I don't feel comfortable being a guinea pig. I know the Admiral had the bone weave done but those fibers were attaching to strong healthy bone structures. It doesn't help if the fibers are attaching to weak structures. So this new idea is exactly that, a new idea, needing a guinea pig." EDI said, "You are certainly not a caged animal."

EDI tried again, "I know that Dr Chakwas has been working on her design with me and Clowder to increase the effectiveness and minimize the risks." Joker said, "You are not going to let this go, are you?" EDI said, "Your condition is degenerative. I believe you will become more agitated the longer you wait while your freedom of movement declines even further." Joker said, "Alright, I will go let her explain it to me." EDI said, "Dr Chakwas says she has time now." Joker sighed, "Fine. Help me out of my chair."

Down in the med bay, Karin welcomed Joker and EDI into the room. She asked, "Jeff, are you seriously considering the treatment, or are you here because of EDI's concern?" Joker said, "I can see her point, and really, I don't want to get to the point where I'm a potted plant." Karin said, "So, we would make outer forms of every bone with the bone weave material, bonding it to its own structure rather than your existing bone structure. We would also use it as interior supports, like rebar in concrete."

Joker said, "So, this would mean lots of surgery, to get these forms around each and every bone?" Karin said, "Yes. We would start with your feet and work upward." Joker said, "So, we're talking about a very long time to finish all of the two hundred and some bones." Karin smiled, "You would need to eat nearly as much as the Admiral does, to support all that healing." Joker said, "Well, at least I'll be a stuffed guinea pig."

Karin said, "Take your boots off and I'll get a new scan your feet."

While she scanned, Joker asked, "How long will the construction portion of our program last?" Karin said, "The longest construction segments will involve the feet and the hands, as those contain the most individual bones. I believe Clowder has already been working and just needs an hour or so to adjust the forms for the biggest bones in your feet." Joker asked, "Will I need to continue with the medicines?" Karin said, "Yes."

Joker said, "I will be taking David shopping tomorrow. Will this interfere with that?" Karin said, "As you would be using the chair either way, I'd say no, it won't interfere. Go get David situated for the evening then come back and we'll get your first procedure started."

Despite the late night before, Cassidy woke at her usual time. She looked over at Garrus who was waking also. He leaned in and kissed her. "Good morning. What do you have planned for today?" Cassidy said, "Most folks are going to be shopping today, including us, eventually."

Cassidy got up and stepped carefully around Alexander's cot, where Fred was sleeping by Alexander's head. She got Paktal and got on with their usual morning routine.

She and Liara worked out a schedule for the shuttles to take folks down to Eden Prime to the Jorine mall to get whatever the kids needed. Cassidy went down with Kevin Copeland and Stephen. Steve dropped them on top of an apartment building. They walked in to the elevator and went to the 9th floor. They knocked at the door and were admitted by Stephen's grandmother. She pulled him in for a big hug. She said, "Garth, they are here! Come in, come in."

They went into a plushly overstuffed living room. Garth said, "Please forgive me if I don't get up. I and my bike took a tumble down the hillside yesterday. Come and give your Grandpa a hug, Stephen!" Stephen did so, tears in his eyes.

Genevieve said, "Admiral we are so happy you could bring our Stephen back to us. Ensign Copeland, I hope he wasn't too much trouble." Kevin said, "No trouble at all, Mrs Orson." Cassidy said, "I'm sorry we can't stay long. Lots to do today." Stephen came and shook Kevin's hand then Cassidy's. Cassidy said, "I hope you recover quickly, Mr Orson." Genevieve said, "Take care, Admiral, Ensign. We will make note of you in the news. Your children are adorable."

Steve came back for them and took them back to the ship. Cassidy collected Zachary and Greg. Steve took them and David and Joker, in a wheelchair, back to the surface. Steve dropped the shoppers at the mall, then said, "Its a good 40 minutes out to Patterson, folks. Settle in." Cassidy asked, "Is Emory taking your three shopping?" Steve said, "Yes, he was on Dizzy's first run down. Robert's in daycare."

They arrived in Patterson and the address was a suburban tree lined street of modest homes. They opened the shuttle door and stepped out. The house door opened and a teen girl came running out. "Zachary, hi. I'm Kaitlyn. Admiral, my sister, Melissa, she's pregnant and her water just broke. Can you give us a ride to the hospital?" The door opened again and a very very pregnant woman came out, her arms around her parents. A man, twentyish, Cassidy guessed, came out after them, a big bag in his hand. He closed the house door behind him.

Cassidy stood aside and waved them all in. They got settled and Cassidy hopped in and the shuttle door closed. Steve said, "Patterson Central?" Kaitlyn said, "Yes, her doctor is waiting for us." Grant held out his hand and Cassidy shook it. Erica reached over and hugged Zachary. Erica said, "I'm sorry, Zachary, things are so crazy around here." Grant said, "I'm Grant, this is Melissa, that's Erica, you've met Kaitlyn, and that's Kyle over there." Cassidy said, "I'm Admiral Shepard Victus Vakarian, that's Lt Greg Adams and Zachary you know, I take it."

Erica said, "Your mother's last picture was two years ago, Zachary. You have grown so much." Kyle said, "Admiral, are you authorized to officiate a wedding? We thought we had another week, but little miss over there had other ideas." Cassidy said, "Is that what you want, Melissa?" Melissa blew out a breath and said, "Yes, Admiral, please. I'd like to be married before she comes, if we can manage it."

Cassidy said, "What's your full name, honey?" Melissa said, "Melissa Janet Turnbull" Kyle said, "Mine is Kyle Evan Atkinson." Cassidy said, "Are you both 18 or over?" Melissa said, "I'm 19, Admiral." Kyle said, "I'm 20." Cassidy said, "EDI, can you hear us?" EDI said, "Yes, Admiral, I can hear you." Cassidy said, "OK, start recording. Do you, Melissa Janet Turnbull take Kyle to be your lawfully wedded spouse?" Melissa moaned and breathed a few times, then said, "I do." Cassidy said, "Kyle Evan Atkinson do you take Melissa to be your lawfully wedded spouse." Kyle said, "I do."

Cassidy asked "Do you have rings, Kyle?" Kyle dug into the bag and pulled a velvet covered box. He took out Melissa's ring and handed the box to Kaitlyn. He leaned over and said, "With this ring, I take you, Melissa, to be my wife, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, so long as we both shall live." Kaitlin handed Kyle's ring to Melissa. They all waited for another contraction to pass.

Melissa put Kyle's ring on his finger. "With this ring, I thee wed, Kyle Evan Atkinson, for better or for worse . . .ahhhhh . . for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, uh . . owwww . . .ah, forsaking all others, so long as we both shall live." The shuttle was landing on the hospital roof.

Cassidy said, "Having witnessed your voluntarily given vows to enter into civil union, I pronounce you wed. Here is the galaxy's newest married couple, Kyle and Melissa!" Kyle leaned in and kissed Melissa briefly. EDI said, "Recorded and filing . . . its official, Admiral. Congratulations Kyle and Melissa!" The shuttle door opened and Grant and Erica helped Melissa out into the arms of two orderlies that helped her onto a gurney and whisked her away. Kyle followed the gurney.

Erica turned to Zachary. "Zachary. I'm sorry. I was going to put you in the spare room, but Kyle's apartment flooded the day before yesterday and now I have to put them in there. I can put you on the couch until Kyle's apartment gets cleaned out." Zachary turned and looked at Greg, who nodded.

Zachary said, "Aunt Erica, Uncle Grant, I really appreciate you offer to take me in. If you don't mind, I have an offer here from my foster father to stay with him and go to school on Earth with a bunch of my friends from TipTree." Erica said, "Zachary, if that's what you want, you have our support. I'm happy you have an option." Grant said, "What else, Zach?"

Zachary said, "Will you stay a moment, for Greg to adopt me?" Grant said, "Melissa's in good hands. We can take a few minutes for you, Zachary." Cassidy said, "Zachary Merle Turnbull, having lost your parents to the Reapers, do you accept Gregory Paul Adams as your father?" "I accept Greg as my father." Cassidy said, "Gregory Paul Adams, do you accept Zachary Merle Turnbull as your son and voluntarily take on the duties and responsibilities to him as his father?" Greg said, "I gladly take Zachary as my son."

From the shuttle, EDI said, "I've got that one, too, Admiral. Name, Zachary?" Zachary said, "Zachary Merle Turnbull Adams" EDI said, "Filing the adoption in Alliance records." Erica kissed Zachary on the cheek, then shook Greg's hand. Grant hugged Zachary and shook Greg's hand. Kaitlyn hugged Zachary and said, "Maybe you can come for a visit on one of you breaks, Zach. We want a bit more time to see you!"

Cassidy said, "I'll make sure he gets the chance to see you all and the baby." Erica came up and hugged Cassidy. "Thank you so much, Admiral. For Zachary's safety and for Melissa and Kyle and the baby." Cassidy said, "Go support Melissa and Kyle now." Grant steered Erica and Kaitlyn around toward the hospital door. Cassidy motioned for Greg and Zachary to get back in the shuttle. She followed them in and hit the door closure. Cassidy sat and said, "Well, Ceremonies-R-Us." Zachary burst into laughter.

Cassidy smiled and said, "Back to the mall, Steve. Greg and Zachary have some shopping to do."

At the mall, they dropped off Greg and Zachary and picked up Ken, Gabby and Blake. Ken had a few bags that he carried onto the shuttle. Cassidy said, "Successful shop?" Gabby said, "Baby clothes, a swing, a backpack for Ken, a sling for me and Jr., a playpen/portable crib and some little things." Ken said, "I thought Zachary was going to his aunt and uncle." Cassidy said, "Zachary's cousin needed a ride to the hospital because her baby was coming. We did a wedding on the way. Zachary's aunt offered him the couch and Greg offered him school on Earth with his friends. Zachary chose the adoption."

They landed on the Normandy. Cassidy went to the mess hall where lunch was underway. She got a extra scoop of everything, as she was rather hungry. Samesh said, "Can we declare dinner to be off ship, Admiral? So Rafa and I can help Haley shop?" Cassidy said, "Absolutely. EDI, notify all personnel, dinner will not be served on the ship today. The galley will close in one hour and re-open tomorrow for breakfast." Samesh said, "Thank you, Admiral."

She sat at the table with Garrus, Solana, Milin, Thane and Carsel. She told them about Greg and Zachary. Garrus said, "Christopher and Alexander are over there. Alexander's running on about 5 hours of sleep, so he's yawning." Cassidy said, "We'll get them acclimated. It will probably take a full week until they're fully adjusted."

Cassidy's omni-tool pinged and she looked at her messages. Several groups had decided to stay the night on Eden Prime. She approved the plans.

Cassidy looked up restaurants in Jorine. She asked Garrus, "How does seafood sound for dinner?" Garrus said, "As long as they have something plain enough for Wendy." Cassidy said, "There's a kids menu, with macaroni and cheese on it." Cassidy sent a message to make reservations, letting them know about the need for dextro. She got a reply with the day's dextro specials.

After lunch, Garrus went up to pack a bag for Paktal and to get the back carrier. Cassidy collected Wendy and Paktal and went back to the mess hall to call Christopher and Alexander to come. Thane was waiting for them by the shuttle. Thane asked, "Do you mind if Anellya, Caleb and I join you at the restaurant?" Cassidy said, "No problem." She messaged the restaurant to increase the count.

Steve lifted them off and headed for Mt Vernon. When they got to the orphanage, Garrus said, "Cassidy, you go in with Thane, we'll wait here for you." Cassidy got out with Thane. Just before they went in the door, Thane asked, "Will you go on record as their mother, so that if something happens to me . . . Well, this would be automatic if castrill was part of your culture, but as its not . . ." Cassidy said, "If that's how you want to set it up."

Inside, Gerard Miller greeted them. "Please, come in. We're glad you are here. Come this way to my office." They went and sat down near his desk. He said, "Er, as this is a sealed adoption, why don't we use your ID, Admiral, as the verification. Then if anything comes up, the questions go to you." Cassidy said, "Alright." and she put her hand on the biometric reader.

They completed the remaining formalities, then waited. After a few minutes, Anellya and Caleb came into the office with a duffel bag each. Miller said, "Congratulations, Anellya and Caleb. We are happy for you." Thane and Cassidy hugged them, then Cassidy took Caleb's bag and Thane took Anellya's. They went back to the shuttle and introduced them. Thane said "This is Anellya Rone Krios and Caleb Van De Vooran Krios. They are your new sister and brother."

Alexander said, "I don't get it." Cassidy said, "Thane is part of our family as castrill, which is a role that human society does not have, but turians and drell do. So, as his children, Anellya and Caleb are also part of the family. The closest thing in human culture would be half or step siblings, but neither is exactly right. So, we'll just say they are your brother and sister."

They went to the mall and went shopping. After getting a wardrobe of clothes and shoes for Christopher and Alexander and a few new things for Anellya and Wendy, they went back to the shuttle. Steve took them to the restaurant and dropped them off. Steve said, "I'm joining Emory and the kids at an Italian place. Contact me when you're ready to be picked up."

The greeter recognized Cassidy. "Admiral, welcome! We have a room for you, it has a view of the bay. This way."

By the time dinner was done, Wendy was yawning. Cassidy called Steve. They went down to the beach to wait. Christopher took off his socks and shoes and waded in the waves breaking on the sand. Caleb joined him. They started kicking water at each other and came out wet and laughing.

The shuttle came down right on the beach a little way off. Max was in the copilot seat, Emory had Robert on his lap and Miguel and Ruby were next to him, looking tired like Alexander. Cassidy and company filled out the remaining seats. Steve took them back to the Normandy.

Thane's family suite had been finished the day before. He led Anellya and Caleb there. He directed Anellya to one side of the suite and he and Caleb took the two beds on the other side. He helped them with their new omni-tools, getting the comm links all established. He gave them a tour of the ship before bed.

Cassidy checked her messages once Wendy was in bed and Garrus was playing chinese checkers with Christopher and Alexander. There was one from Erica Turnbull, "Melissa and Kyle had their little girl at 4:21 pm. They have named her Cassidy Eva Turnbull Atkinson. Thank you again, Admiral." Cassidy sent back her congratulations.

There was another from Irene, "Admiral, Amy Bates and I took our girls to the Jorine City Hall and did the adoption proceedings there. So now, I'm 'Mom' to Shannon Schwartz. She vehemently insisted on dropping Pierce from her name. Some issue there I may discover sometime in the future." Amy also sent a message, "Went to the Jorine City Hall. Patience is my adopted daughter now. She tacked Bates onto the end of her name."

There was also a message from EDI, "Admiral, on Jeff's suggestion, I have retained the services of a lawyer. On her advice, we are going to wait until we get to the Sol System for David's adoption. I have contacted Councilor Carter and she is willing to officiate. Diana is going to do a report on the ceremony. I hope you will be there as a witness."

The next message was from Noah Waxman, "Admiral, Derek, Shane and I would like our adoptions to be at breakfast tomorrow morning, if you are willing." Cassidy sent her agreement back to Noah.

Callista jumped up and sat right in front of the screen. She started cleaning her ears. Cassidy said, "Are you getting a little plump in the belly, Callista?" Cassidy got up and got her visor on. Garrus said, "What's going on?" Cassidy adjusted the settings and she saw a bunch of little heartbeats in Callista's abdomen. Cassidy said, "Callista and Fred are expecting kittens."


	105. Chapter 105

Chapter 105

Everyone was back on board and at breakfast. Cassidy got the three boys lined up in front of her with the three adults behind them. Cassidy called for attention and the room went quiet, except for Ruby and Vivian that were quickly shushed by Karin. Cassidy said, "Derek Conway, Noah Waxman, and Shane Hildebrand, having lost your parents to the Reapers, do you accept the adult at your back as your adopted parent?" Each boy said, "I do." Cassidy said, "Corporal Julio Morris, Staff Sergeant Petra McDonald, Flight Lieutenant Dizzy Phelps, show your acceptance of the young man in front of you and your acceptance of the duty and responsibility as his parent by placing your hand on his shoulder." Three hands were placed. Cassidy said, "Boys, state your names as you wish them to be recorded." Derek said, "Derek Conway Morris." Noah said, "Noah Waxman McDonald." Shane said, "Shane Hildebrand Phelps." The room applauded. Breakfast resumed.

When they arrived in the Sol System, they docked with the Philippines. Ashley, Chloe and Rachel were waiting at the airlock. Cassidy accompanied them across the gangway. Cassidy called out "Permission to board, Admiral Hackett?" Hackett called out, "Normandy crew and family, permission granted. At ease."

Cassidy led the group across. Lt Penelope Locksley took Rachel into a hug. Rachel turned and hugged Chloe and then Ashley. She shook Cassidy's hand. Lt Locksley walked off with Rachel.

Ashley said, "Admiral Hackett, would you officiate an adoption here?" Hackett said, "Certainly, Lt Commander. Young lady, state your name." Chloe said, "Chloe Surbrook Abbott, sir." Hackett said, "Chesa, please begin recording this. Chloe Surbrook Abbott, having lost your parents to the Reapers, do you accept Ashley Williams as your adopted mother?" Chloe said, "I do." "Lt Commander, do you accept Chloe as your daughter and the duty and responsibilities as her mother?" Ashley said, "I do, sir." Hackett said, "Chloe please state how you would like your name to read." Chloe said, "Chloe Jenna Williams, sir." Ashley said, "You're sure?" Chloe said, "Definitely." Chesa said, "Recorded and filed. Congratulations Lt Commander and Chloe."

Ashley turned and walked with Chloe back aboard the Normandy.

Hackett said, "Cassidy, the school counselors from Cedar Rapids are up here to do the assessment testing on all your teens. So, all the ones 13 years old and up will be expected to report to the music lounge at 1300. Their parents will need to drop them off to fill out registration forms." Cassidy said, "Yes, sir." Hackett said, "Carter is expecting you, Moreau, and the rest at her office on the Citadel."

Cassidy turned and went back aboard the Normandy. She said "Joker, its that time. Let's get down to the shuttle. EDI, please inform the crew that all youth 13 and up need to report with a parent to the music lounge on the Philippines at 1300." Joker transferred to the wheelchair and went with Cassidy to the elevator. Cassidy asked, "What's with the splints?" Joker said, "Installing internal support structures from the ground up. I'm forging new territory, but doc tells me I get to eat like you do. So, I won't complain – too much, anyway."

On the cargo bay, EDI, Diana, David, Lt Jackson and Petra were waiting. They got into the shuttle and Steve took them to the Citadel.

Cassidy led the way into Carter's office, where a woman in a suit was talking with Carter. They woman said, "EDI, nice to meet you in person. Admiral, I'm Veronica Lankton, here as EDI's lawyer." Cassidy introduced everyone.

Carter said, "Ms Allers, please indicate where you would like us to place ourselves." Diana checked her omni-tool, then looked around and said, "Why don't we do it so the symbol of the Alliance is in the background. So, Councilor, go there, then you three in front of her there. Admiral, go stand behind the Councilor so that the camera can see your face. Good. OK, ready when you are."

Carter said, "We are here to witness an adoption. David DeKett Ries, your parents were lost to you in the Reaper attack on TipTree. Is that correct?" David said, "Yes, ma'am." Carter said, "David, name to me the two people you wish to accept as your parents." David looked at Joker and said, "I accept Jeff Moreau as my father." Then he looked at EDI and said, "I accept EDI D'Normandy as my mother."

Carter said to Joker, "Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau, do you accept David as your son and accept the duties and responsibilities as his father?" Joker said, "I do." Carter said, "EDI D'Normandy, do you accept David as your son and accept the duties and responsibilities as his mother?" EDI said, "I accept David as my son and the duties and responsibilities as his mother." Carter said, "I declare David to be son to Jeff Moreau and EDI D'Normandy. David, state how you would like your name to read now." David said, "David DeKett Ries D'Normandy Moreau."

Lankton came forward with a form and had everyone sign it. David hugged EDI and then Jeff. Carter shook David's hand. Cassidy shook David's hand.

Diana said, "That was great. I'll get it out on the next report."

Cassidy said, "Chinese for lunch?" David said, "Sounds good to me." Joker said, "Alright, let's go." Lankton said, "EDI, copy me on the messages you receive about Allers' report please." EDI said, "I will, Ms Lankton. Thank you."

They went out to the elevator and over to Chopsticks. Jia welcomed them in.

After lunch they returned to the Normandy. Cassidy found Christopher and accompanied him over to the Philippines. He went in for the testing and she accepted a datapad and registered him. After she handed it in, she saw Ashley and Karin waiting for her. They walked back toward the Normandy. At the gangway, an officer approached them and saluted. Cassidy returned the salute, "At ease, Lieutenant.", "Admiral, I am Lieutenant Tucker Holloway. I have been assigned to the Normandy to teach middle school. I understand you have 6 students age 9 thru 12."

Cassidy looked on her omni-tool to be sure, "Amber, Lea, Vivian, Ruby, and Alexander. I think Anellya will need to be tutored by her father. She's a drell with eidetic memory, which requires a very different teaching method. However we will have Haley, a 15 year old, remaining aboard to independently study and apprentice in culinary arts. Would you be able to assist her as well?" Holloway said, "I can serve as her tutor and counselor, Admiral. Not a problem. Is she being tested with the rest?" Cassidy looked at Ashley, "Was Samesh there filling out a registration?" Karin said, "Yes, in fact, here he comes now."

Samesh was walking up with Greg and Dizzy. Cassidy said, "Samesh. This is Lieutenant Tucker Holloway. He's going to be our resident teacher. Lieutenant, this is Samesh Bhatia, our head chef. He is father to Haley, the 15 year old I mentioned."

Cassidy got a ping on her omni-tool. She looked and it was a meeting request from Congregation. She accepted. "I will get back to you, Lieutenant Holloway. If you need Alexander, contact my husband, Advisor Garrus Vakarian. You are welcome aboard the Normandy. EDI will assign you a room."

Cassidy went to the conference room Congregation had indicated. Congregation said, "Welcome back, Admiral. We have a plan for the extra deck you requested before this last mission. We also have a plan for the additional deck you requested to contain crew quarters, educational labaratory spaces and multi-use spaces. If you will look here." Cassidy looked over the plans for the two new decks. She saw that the power source was going to be moved down and the new decks inserted above to become Decks 7 and 8.

Congregation said, "We have also determined an upgrade to your stealth system, Admiral. We can bleed off the capacitors now to feed back into the power source. So, you will no longer need to dump your capacitors, Admiral. Your stealth abilities will be greatly increased. EDI will be able to alert you to your new limits. The deck additions will make it efficient to do the power system upgrade simultaneously."

Cassidy said, "Excellent. How long will you need for the modifications?" Congregation said, "We are spread over more projects now, Admiral, including the school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. We will need 8 days." Cassidy said, "I'll get the Normandy over to you as soon as I can. Chesa, do you have room for all of the Normandy's complement on the Philippines, minus my family and Ashley William's family? We have apartments on the Citadel." Chesa said, "Yes, Admiral. I will get the personnel list from EDI and assign quarters."

Cassidy contacted EDI, "EDI, let the crew know they are on leave for the next 8 days. The Normandy will be getting upgraded, so Chesa will assign temporary quarters to everyone on the Philippines." EDI said, "Passing the message along, Admiral."

Cassidy got a message from Garrus, "Are you returning here soon?" Cassidy sent back, "Coming now." She took her leave of Congregation and went back to the Normandy.

The crew that were not responsible for any teens were already heading off the Normandy with their duffels. Cassidy went up to the cabin where Alexander was packing Christopher's bag. Garrus was packing up Paktal. Cassidy went to pack up Wendy. Cassidy messaged Zoe and Kathera to deliver all the children to their parents, then to get themselves packed.

A few minutes later, Kathera arrived with Wendy and Paktal. Wendy went inside and Cassidy took Paktal. Kathera went back to the elevator. When Wendy figured out what was going on, she said, "What about my flowers, Mommy? and my fish?" EDI said, "I will see that your flowers are watered and your fish is fed, Wendy." Wendy said, "Thank you, EDI." "You are most welcome, Wendy."

When they were all packed, Cassidy said, "I'll help get you all down to the shuttle. Then you can get them set up in our apartment while I stay here until the Normandy is down to just EDI. I'll bring Christopher over when we're done." She grabbed her bags and Wendy's and led the way to the elevator. When the got to the cargo deck, Clowder was there and took the bags from her. Cassidy said, "Thank you, Clowder." "I am happy to assist, Admiral."

Garrus went off on Dizzy's shuttle with Paktal, Wendy and Alexander. Ashley and Chloe also went on that shuttle. Cassidy and Clowder returned to the bridge. Clowder said, "I am going to accompany Dr Chakwas to continue our work with Lt Commander Moreau's bone treatment, Admiral." Cassidy said, "Thank you, Clowder."

Carsel sent a message, "Admiral, where will you be staying?" Cassidy replied, "I have an apartment on the Citadel, Zakera Ward." Carsel sent back, "I will take a hotel room on the Presidium. Let me know when you plan to travel from there." Cassidy sent, "Acknowledged, Doctor."

Cassidy stood between the bridge and the airlock and acknowledged each group as they left. The last was Steve and Emory and their family. Clowder was assisting them as well. Cassidy said, "I leave the Normandy under your capable control, EDI." EDI said, "I will keep in contact, Admiral." Cassidy went across the gangway, let the airlock close behind and the gangway pull back. The Normandy moved off.

Cassidy got a message from Christopher, "Testing is done." She sent back, "Coming." Garrus forwarded a message from Garvin to supply dinner for Garrus, Solana, Thane and children, if they could eat in Cassidy & Garrus' apartment. Cassidy replied with her approval. She notified Melanie. She sent Thane a message that they could accommodate him, Anellya and Caleb as well. Thane sent acceptance.

Cassidy sent a message to Tarin, to reserve a shuttle to the Citadel. Tarin sent back, "Shuttle reserved. If you can take a minute before your trip, I'd like a word." Cassidy replied, "OK."

Cassidy collected Christopher and then they went to get Melanie. Melanie came out with her duffel and Kahlee on her heels. Kahlee hugged Cassidy and said, "Hello Cassidy, how are you?" Cassidy said, "Doing well." Kahlee said, "I'm letting Melanie out for your 8 day leave, which encompasses our 4 day break. She is advancing well ahead of her class, so she can afford a few extra days off." Cassidy said, "Thanks for accommodating us." Melanie said, "Goodbye, Administrator." Kahlee said, "Have fun, Cadet. We'll see you in 8 days."

They went to the flight deck where Solana, Milin and Maklin were waiting. Cassidy left Melanie and Christopher with them and went into the control booth where Tarin was. Cassidy, "Hey, what's up?" Tarin got up from her board and hugged Cassidy. "I have gotten word that there will be babies available for adoption from your group of teens you rescued. Juran and I want to adopt one." Cassidy said, "The next one due, in 6 and ½ weeks, is a boy, coming to Abby. Her adopted mother is Diana Allers." Tarin noted the information. "I will talk to Diana tonight. Thank you, Cassidy. Our wedding is tomorrow after dinner. Can you come?" Cassidy said, "We'll be there."

Tarin looked out the window and said, "It looks like Thane is here. Who are the kids with him?" Cassidy said, "Anellya and Caleb, his adopted children. Tarin, ask Juran to explain what a castrill is to you. Garrus popped that one on me kind of suddenly and I was thrown for a loop for a bit." Tarin said, "Castrill . . . OK. Lt Jones is ready for you."

Cassidy went down and joined everybody in the shuttle and Jones delivered them to the Citadel, where they took 2 Alliance cars to the apartment.

They got inside and Wendy said, "Melanie! Will you help me find Xander? He's hiding." Melanie said, "Where do want me to put my bag, Mom?" Cassidy asked, "Garrus, have you figured out sleeping arrangements?" Garrus said, "Actually, four sets of bunk beds are on their way. I figured we needed the extra beds, if not now then eventually. If we set up the boys in the smaller living room and the girls upstairs there, then Solana and Milin can have the bedroom with the hot tub and Thane can have the lower one." Cassidy said, "Alright then. Melanie, see that space right behind the rail up there? Put your bag there."

Melanie said to Wendy, "Come with me to put my bag away and then I will help you look." A message came on Cassidy's omni-tool from Alexander, "Not fair!" Cassidy held back a laugh.

Cassidy said to Anellya, "You take your bag up with Melanie." Thane said, "So, Christopher, Alexander, Caleb and Maklin in there? So, two sets of bunk beds?" The door bell chimed. Cassidy went to the screen and saw it was a couple Alliance soldiers with furniture sized boxes along with smaller boxes and bags as well. Cassidy admitted them. They went about carrying in the boxes and Cassidy pointed where to put them. When all the boxes were in place the soldiers left. Cassidy looked in the smaller boxes and bags and found sheets, blankets and pillows for eight twin size beds.


	106. Chapter 106

Chapter 106

Garrus, Thane and Milin set to setting up the beds. The door chimed again and Cassidy saw it was Garvin and an older turian female, both loaded with big bags of takeout. She admitted them. They came in and Cassidy said, "Hello, Father." Garvin said, "Where do you want these bags, Cassidy?" Cassidy said, "Let's put them in the kitchen."

Solana came in, holding Paktal, "Hello, Father. Cassidy, I drained the hot tub. I didn't want Maklin accidentally falling in. Turians do not float." Cassidy said, "Good idea, Solana. I'm sorry I didn't think of that earlier. For that matter, I don't know yet if any of the new kids can swim. Maybe I should take them to the pool on the Philippines tomorrow and find out."

While Cassidy started setting the takeout boxes on the counter, Garvin said, "Where is everybody?" Cassidy said, "Garrus, Milin and Thane are setting up bunk beds in the other room. The kids are playing hide and seek, I think." Garvin said, "I guess we'll do this in parts then. Cassidy, Solana, this is Captain Mekira Dahga. She was recently posted here in the embassy." Mekira said, "I am pleased to meet you, Admiral, Lt Commander."

Solana asked, "How did you two meet, Captain?" Mekira said, "We first met on Palaven, where I was in charge of the post-war census and lodgings coordination." Cassidy asked, "Captain, what family did you lose to the Reapers?" Mekira said, "My mate, our castrill, our daughter and her mate. I have a son remaining, his daughter, my sister, her mate and their grandson, all on Palaven."

Cassidy pulled out a stack of plates and then silverware and napkins. Mekira said, "I'll pour drinks if you'll point where the glasses are." Cassidy said, "That cupboard there. Melanie! Bring all the kids to get dinner!"

The kids came in and lined up. Cassidy said, "You all will be eating around the coffee table in the living room. Mel, help Wendy with her plate, please. Father, will you help Maklin with his, please." Cassidy said to Mekira, "That's Melanie, she's a Cadet at Grissom Academy, doing training in biotics. This is Christopher, Alexander, Caleb, Anellya, Maklin and Wendy and in Solana's arms there, that's the littlest one so far, Paktal." Mekira said, "Hello to you all. I'm Captain Mekira Dahga. 'So far', Admiral?" Cassidy said, "I'm carrying a human son and a turian daughter. 5 1/2 weeks in. And Solana's got a son a week ahead of me."

Once all the kids had their plates, Garrus, Milin and Thane came in. Garvin did the introductions. The adults ate at the dining table.

Garvin asked, "Cassidy, what are your plans for your leave while the Normandy is getting upgraded?" Cassidy said, "A friend is getting married on the Philippines tomorrow evening. After that, I think we'll go to Palaven to introduce the newest kids to my side of the family. Solana, you are welcome to travel to Palaven with us or stay here in the apartment if you like." Solana said, "I'll let you know. Thank you, Cassidy."

Cassidy's omni-tool chirped. She saw it was a comm request from Captain Lisa Pasciullo on the Iowa. Cassidy said, "Please excuse me for a moment." She went upstairs and transferred the call to the screen up there. "Lisa?" "Cassidy! Hello! I just talked to Tarin. I'm coming in to the Philippines tomorrow for her wedding. She tells me she and Juran are going to adopt a baby from the group you rescued. She suggested that I ask you if there are any others available."

Cassidy pulled up her omni-tool. "There is a little girl due in 7 weeks or so, to a girl named Chloe. Her adoptive mother is Council Spectre Alliance Lt Commander Ashley Williams. She is on the Citadel. Would like me to give her your name?" "Please, I'll be ever so grateful." "No problem, Lisa." "I'll see you at the wedding then?" "See you then. Shepard Victus Vakarian out."

Cassidy typed a message about Lisa to Ashley and sent it. She returned to dinner.

After dinner, Garrus, Milin and Thane returned to bed construction, upstairs this time. Garvin played hide and seek with the kids. Solana handed Paktal to Cassidy for feeding and Mekira and Solana did the dinner cleanup.

Cassidy's omni-tool chirped while she was changing Paktal. She said, "Audio only." It was Karin's voice, "Cassidy, I just had a call from Jacob. He and Brynn are interested in adopting one of our babies. I don't know which babies you have already referred, so I thought you'd better talk to Jacob." Cassidy said, "I will call him, Karin. Yes, I have already done a couple references, so I'm glad you called me." "Alright then, Cassidy. With luck we'll get families for all these babies before leave is up." Cassidy said, "Its looking good so far. Shepard Victus Vakarian out."

Cassidy went into her and Garrus' bedroom and found where Garrus had already set up the crib from the ship. She put Paktal in it and rocked him until he fell asleep. She went back out to the big screen and called Jacob. Jacob answered, "Admiral, thanks for calling me back so soon." Cassidy said, "Nice to see you, Jacob. There is a baby boy due in 8 weeks to a girl named Kyley, her adoptive mother is Samantha. She's on the Philippines." Jacob said, "I'll call her right away, Admiral. Thank you." Cassidy said, "My pleasure, Jacob. Tell Brynn to send me a picture of Cassandra. Shepard Victus Vakarian out."

Cassidy figured that the final call would come from Parveen and James. Sure enough, less than five minutes later, a call request came from Parveen. "Parveen, how are you?" "Doing well, Admiral. I am enjoying my classes. I was just talking to Samesh. He says he is going to be a grandfather! He is so happy, Admiral. He also says that there are possibly babies available to adopt. Is that true, Admiral?" Cassidy said, "There is a boy due in about 11 weeks to a girl named Shannon. Her adoptive mother is Petty Officer Irene Schwartz, the one I took on to do your duties. She is on the Philippines right now." "I will call her, Admiral. Thank you! James is not here right now, but he is doing well with his training." Cassidy said, "I look forward to hearing from him as well. Shepard Victus Vakarian out."

Cassidy went downstairs, where Garvin, Mekira, Garrus, Maklin and Solana were sitting in the main living room. Cassidy told them about all the calls. Mekira asked, "Why are so many babies being given up?" Garrus explained about the cult and the rescue. Mekira said, "That's monstrous. What will happen to those men?" Cassidy said, "They may get caught by Alliance forces and be tried for their crimes, but more likely is they'll end up dead from accident, starvation or natural hazards."

Christopher poked his head around a corner, "I saw a little bit, when this huge krogan came in, busting open the door and shooting darts at everybody. I was hoping you guys would kill them, the Prophet and his cronies, even if you were Reaper controlled. Why didn't you?" Cassidy looked in Christopher's eyes and said, "I told them not to, unless forced, because at first we didn't know any more than what Vivian had said in her message." Garrus told Mekira, "The leader called himself 'the Prophet'. I chased him. He shot himself." Christopher went back around the corner.

Cassidy looked up where Wendy was running away from somebody, laughing, looking back, not at the stairs she was running toward. Cassidy stood up and put a soft repulsion field backed by a hard barrier that Wendy squished into rather than falling down the stairs. Cassidy held it until Melanie came and picked Wendy up and hugged her. Thane, halfway up the stairs, called sharply for all the kids to come down and stay on the lower level. Garrus turned to see Cassidy's face blanche and she weakly sat down.

Garrus said, "Father, Cassidy needs something very high calorie levo, quickly. Dr Chakwas usually uses ice cream shakes." Garvin got on his omni-tool and left the apartment. Thane went into the kitchen and checked the fridge. He found a leftover enchilada. He put it into the microwave, then brought it over, "Siha, I would have caught her. There was no need to drain yourself." Cassidy said, "All I saw was her, about to fall." She ate the enchilada.

Thane asked, "What did you do, by the way? I expected her to rebound off the barrier." Cassidy said, "I didn't want her to hurt herself on a hard barrier so I cushioned it with a soft repulsion field." Thane said, "I would never have thought to combine the two techniques. Nor do I have such amazing control. I have seen you work before, Siha, but that was a most impressive piece of biotic work."

Garvin was back before she finished the enchilada. She took a big sip of the shake, found it to be some berry flavor she couldn't identify, but it was good enough. Garvin asked, "Biotics are that draining?" Garrus said, "Usually she has a reserve of energy, but Benjamin and Savena are taking up that reserve, so the docs recommended that she do no biotics. And, of course, she did something Thane says is impressive, so no doubt she used that much more energy."

By the time she finished the enchilada and the shake, her color was returning and Garrus was relieved, "You are looking more pink than white, that's good." Cassidy said, "Fear will also do that to humans, pull their blood supply inward to fuel a fight or flight response, causing the skin to lose color."

Garvin said, "While I was waiting for them to make the shake, I ordered some safety gates to go across your landings. They should be here . . . " The door bell chimed. Garvin got up and said, "There are the gates. I'll go accept them." Garvin left and then returned with several boxes. Garvin and Milin installed a gate on one side and Garrus and Thane installed on the other.

Garvin and Mekira said their goodnights, touched foreheads all around and left. Cassidy and Solana called for children to get ready for bed.

When Cassidy finally crawled into bed, Garrus leaned in and kissed her. He said, "Care to take advantage of our relative solitude?" Cassidy said, "Absolutely." Garrus ran his hand under her night shirt, and cupped a breast. He kissed her and thrust his tongue in to explore hers. He moved his hand down and tucked it under her waistband. He eased her shorts and underwear off. She kicked them off to the bottom of the bed.

He used his finger to rub her clit and brought his head down to lick up her neck to behind an ear. She ran her hand along him and found he had already shed his clothing. He brought his head back up and kissed her deeply again. He adjusted himself over her and drove his cock into her. She suppressed her vocal reaction, but leaned into his thrusts.

They were working their way up when the door opened and Wendy walked in, "Mommy?" Garrus and Cassidy went still. Melanie came in, whispered, "Sorry", grabbed Wendy's hand and left, closing the door behind. Cassidy laughed quietly but then Garrus resumed and she was refocused. They came.

Garrus laid out next to Cassidy and held her. He said, "I'll get locking knobs tomorrow." Cassidy smiled.

Cassidy woke to the smell of pancakes and bacon. She showered, dressed and went downstairs where Milin and Thane were cooking on two different counters on two different grills. Thane dished up a couple pancakes onto a plate Melanie was holding. Melanie prepped it at Wendy's direction and took Wendy and the plate out to the living room table, where Caleb, Alexander and Maklin were already eating. Cassidy waited while Melanie, Anellya and Christopher got their plates. Solana and Garrus with Paktal came down.

During breakfast Cassidy got a call request from Admiral Hackett and one from EDI. She quickly finished her plate and juice. She went up to the big screen and contacted Hackett. "Cassidy, I would like you to spend a few hours with the Kilimanjaro and do another AI initiation. This morning, or this afternoon, let Captain Jason Slezak know when you want to head over. He will send a shuttle for you." Cassidy said, "Aye, aye sir." "Hackett out."

Cassidy contacted EDI. "EDI? What's up?" "There has been an official response from Diana's report last night. The Terra Firma party has filed a request for an injunction to void my adoption of David, contending that Councilor Carter acted outside her authority." Cassidy asked, "In what jurisdiction?" "They have called for a hearing at the next meeting of the Alliance Parliament, in front of the Prime Minister. The Parliament has not been formed yet since the war. My lawyer is filing an application to have this heard before the Council. I will let you know when we get a response from the Council." "Thank you for letting me know, EDI. Shepard Victus Vakarian out."

Cassidy went back in to the table, "I need to work a few hours. Hackett said I could choose my time today, so I think I'll work this morning and then return for lunch and we can head to the Philippines after Wendy and Maklin nap?" Garrus said, "Sounds good."

Cassidy contacted Captain Slezak. "Slezak. Admiral, are you calling to arrange your visit?" Cassidy said, "I am ready to come over, Captain." "Excellent, I'll get a shuttle headed to the Citadel right away. Lt Ruven will contact you when he arrives." Cassidy said, "Acknowledged, Captain. Shepard Victus Vakarian out."

Cassidy did some research while she waited. Melanie came by, "Mom, are you going to name another new AI?" Cassidy said, "In fact I am." "Do you have a list of appropriate names I could choose from?" Cassidy said, "I'll assemble one, just a moment . . . There you can have a look." Melanie said, "Hmm, not that one, too hard to pronounce. Hmm, I like 'Mwana'." Cassidy said, "Nice choice."

When the Alliance car dropped her at the shuttle, she found Congregation and another geth already on board. She said, "Hello Congregation." Congregation said, "Hello, Admiral. This is Ream, who will be assigned to the Kilimanjaro. Ream, this is Admiral Cassidy Shepard Victus Vakarian of the Normandy." Cassidy said, "Hello Ream." Ream said, "Greetings, Admiral."

When they arrived, Captain Slezak welcomed them aboard. "Admiral, Congregation, we are pleased you have come to assist with our transition. If you will follow me, we will head to the server room now." Cassidy said, "Congregation, how long will your hardware upgrade take?" "Approximately 90 minutes, Admiral."

In the server room, Congregation and Ream got to work. Slezak said, "Admiral, may I give you the tour?" Cassidy said, "Please do, Captain."

Eventually, Slezak and Cassidy returned to the server room. Congregation said, "We are ready to begin software transfer. What will be the AI's name, Admiral?" Cassidy said, "Mwana." Slezak said, "As in the Sultan?" Cassidy said, "Yes." Congregation said, "Voice, Admiral?" "Asha-Rose Migiro." Ream said, "Mwana is communicating with Chesa and EDI."

Mwana said, "Good morning, Admiral and Captain. I am Mwana. I am pleased to join EDI, Evette, Chesa, Kiepja and Ruth. Captain Slezak, would you like me to introduce myself to your crew now?" Slezak said, "Yes, Mwana, please do."

Cassidy said, "Congregation and I will leave you to it, Captain." Slezak said, "Thank you for your assistance, Admiral. I'm sure Mwana is going to make herself indispensable very quickly." Cassidy and Congregation went to the shuttle bay where Lt Ruven was waiting for them.


	107. Chapter 107

Chapter 107

Cassidy came in to the apartment. Garrus was working on installing new knobs and locks on the last of the three bedroom doors. The kids were scattered around playing video games. Solana was watching a vid with Paktal asleep nearby on a pad on the floor. Cassidy asked, "Milin and Thane out and about?" Garrus said,"They went to pick up lunch."

Cassidy's omni-tool gave the 'urgent from Garvin' chirp. She accepted the request. "Father?" "Cassidy, we have a suspect in custody that says there is a bomb in Tiberius Tower. We are checking but I want all of you out of there, now. Official cars are on the way." Cassidy said, "Understood, father." He said, "Vakarian out." She called out, "EVERYONE GET TO THE DOOR NOW. LEAVE YOUR STUFF. JUST GO!"

Cassidy went to the door. Garrus came in, Wendy in hand, Melanie running up behind him, "Wendy, here's Jenny, hun." Wendy took Jenny and held her tight to her chest. "Cassidy, what's going on?" Cassidy said, "Garvin called, bomb threat in this building. Cars coming." Garrus encouraged Melanie and Wendy out then he took Cassidy's arm and said "I will get the rest, you go with Melanie and Wendy."

Solana came with Paktal in her arms and gave him to Cassidy and took Maklin in hand. Caleb and Anellya came. Garrus shouted, "Christopher! Alexander! NOW!" Christopher came dragging Alexander by the hand, Alexander trying to get his pants up with the other. Alexander whined, "I was in the bathroom!" Garrus picked Alexander up and pushed Christopher ahead of him out the door.

Out in the hallway, Solana said, "Maklin, hold Anellya's hand and keep going!" She turned around and pulled Alexander's pants up as Garrus put him down. They ran down where C-Sec officers hustled them into three different cars: C-Sec, Alliance, and Turian.

The cars lifted off. Before they cleared the next intersection, a blast erupted behind them, jostling the cars in the shock wave. The pilots recovered their flight paths and sped away. Cassidy sent a message to Thane and Milin to meet them at the shuttle bay. Wendy said, "Will we get new clothes again, Daddy?" Garrus answered, Yes, sweetheart, we will have to shop again."

Cassidy's omni-tool chirped, it was from Garvin again, "Cassidy, are all of you alright?" "Yes, father, we got out just in time. Thank you." "I'm directing your cars to the shuttle bay. I want you all on the Philippines. I'll meet you over there after we get the scene cleared. Vakarian out."

At the shuttle bay, Alexander came up to Cassidy and pulled her down to whisper in her ear, "I need to clean up and get new underwear, please." Cassidy said, "Dad will take you to the bathroom just over there. Take your underwear off and put them in the recycler. Clean yourself up and put your pants back on without underwear for now. We'll deal with new clothes after we are on the Philippines." Cassidy said out loud, "Garrus, would you escort Alexander to the men's room, please."

Thane and Milin arrived with bags of take-out in hand. Thane took Anellya and Caleb into a hug. Milin hugged Solana and Maklin. Thane said, "I am glad, Siha, that you are all safe. We heard the news in our cab on the way over here. One of the C-Sec officers, helping with evacuation of the building, is in critical condition."

Cassidy's omni-tool chirped, it was from Carsel. Cassidy answered it, "Admiral, are you and your family safe?" Cassidy said, "We got out okay, Doctor. We are headed for the Philippines." "Admiral, I will make way over there. I'll want to examine you when I get there." "Yes, Doctor." "Grixen out."

An shuttle came in. Cassidy recognized it as Steve's. They crowded into it and went to the Philippines.

Admiral Hackett was there waiting for them. He said, "I'm glad you all made it out, Cassidy. However, as you may have guessed already, I am restricting you to Alliance or Turian Hierarchy ships for the time being. If you will shop online for new clothing for all of you, I will send people to pick up the packages and deliver them to you."

A couple carts came up. Chesa said, "If you will board, everyone, the carts will take you to your quarters." The carts took them to three contiguous suites. Chesa said, "Suites 659 and 661 have two bedrooms, a full bath and a living area, each. Suite 660, on the end, has three bedrooms, one and a half baths, an office and and a living area." Solana said, "We will take the one on our left." Thane said, "We will take the one on the right." Cassidy went to the end door, which Chesa opened for her. She said, "It looks big enough we can all eat in here."

Cassidy went to the couch and laid Paktal down. She sat next to him. "Garrus, would you get on the net, order stuff for Paktal first, a crib, his food, diapers, pick out some day to day clothing and something nice looking for tonight, a duffel bag to carry it all, another back carrier for you. Then work with the boys on what they need. I'll work with Melanie and Wendy."

Her omni-tool chirped. It was Hannah. "Hi Mom." "Cassidy! Are the kids all right? Were any of you injured?" "We are fine, Mom. Garrus' father got word to us, so we got out in time. We are on the Philippines now. Looks like an ambassadorial suite." Hannah said, "I'm so glad you are all okay. I will let Adrien know. When are you planning to go to Palaven?" Cassidy said, "Tomorrow, it looks like." "Then I'll take leave and head over there on a shuttle, as well. My XO can handle things for a few days." "Alright, see you there, Mom." "Love to you all. Krueger Victus out."

Cassidy called Wendy over and helped her shop, then Melanie, then a few things for herself. Chesa said, "Lt Commander Vakarian is requesting access. Her family, Thane and his children are with her." Cassidy said, "Open the door, Chesa, please."

Milin and Thane brought the bags of take out in and started putting things out on the dining table. Solana looked in the cabinets near the table and found plates and such. She put those out and everybody got some lunch.

Cassidy was nearly done eating when Chesa said, "Dr Carsel Grixen requests admittance." Cassidy said, "Let her in." Carsel came in. Cassidy said, "We can do an exam in this bedroom by the office." Cassidy led the way to the master bedroom. Carsel scanned Cassidy. "You should add another 150 calories of dextro to your daily intake. Your stores are nearly gone. Otherwise things are looking good." Carsel pulled out another bottle of turian prenatal vitamins, "I assume you need replacements." Cassidy stood and put her clothing back in place. "Thank you, Doctor, you are right. I'll get another set from Karin also. Shall I send Solana in?" Carsel said, "Please do, Admiral."

Cassidy went back to the sitting room and said, "Solana, your turn with the doctor. I need to go get myself measured for new fatigues and a new formal uniform. I'll take Melanie, as she needs new uniforms as well." Melanie said, "They have my measure, Mom, just order some new ones for me, boots, too?" Cassidy said, "Alright, then. You can stay here, Mel."

On the way down to uniform supply, Cassidy sent a message to Karin to request the replacement vitamins. Karin replied with an acknowledgement. The clerk saluted her, "Admiral." Cassidy saluted and said, "As you were." The clerk said, "Admiral Hackett told us you would be coming. If you would step this way, we will update your measurements."

After getting measured, Cassidy placed the order for herself and on Melanie's behalf. She was just finishing when Klein came in. "Admiral, will you walk with me?" Cassidy said, "Yes, Colonel. Where are we walking?" "Let's just walk this way." They got out into the passageway and headed toward the elevator.

Klein asked, "How are you feeling after today's events?" Cassidy said, "Frustrated. Angry. Ashamed." Klein asked, "Frustrated because . . .?" Cassidy said, "Because I'm being hemmed in closer and closer. I'm currently restricted to ships." "Angry?" "That whoever it was endangered my family." "And ashamed?" "Because, after Illium and that exploding shuttle incident, I should never have taken my family to stay anywhere so public as the Citadel. I should have known better. Our escape was way too close there."

Cassidy thought about Christopher. She said, "Poor Christopher, he's not going to be able to join his friends at school on Earth. But, then again, his best friend was adopted by Joker and EDI. So David's not going to be able to go to school on Earth, either, not if the human-centric groups are this militant. I suppose its just as well. They'll have each other as they study on the ship."

Klein asked, "Do you know who was responsible?" Cassidy said, "I don't, no. The Executor, that's Garrus' father, had a suspect who was talking, so hopefully he will tell us when he comes." Klein said, "How are the children reacting to the bombing?" Cassidy said, "I concentrated on getting here, then replacing clothing, so I really don't know." Klein said, "Why don't we go see?" Cassidy said, "OK, let's go."

When they got to the suite, Cassidy walked in to find Wendy in tears in Melanie's arms on the couch. Wendy got up and ran to Cassidy, "I want Mommy!" Cassidy picked Wendy up and let her cry on her shoulder. Cassidy said, "If I come with you, pumpkin, will you take a nap?" Cassidy could feel Wendy nod. They went into the girls' bedroom. Cassidy put Wendy into bed with Jenny. Cassidy pulled a chair close and said, "I will sit right here and check my messages while you and Jenny go to sleep." Wendy wiped her eyes on her sleeve and closed her eyes, clutching Jenny tight.

Cassidy heard Klein out in the sitting area talking with Melanie. She pulled up her messages. One was from Ashley, checking on her. She replied that they were okay. Another message was from Garvin, saying he would be there shortly. She checked the extranet and read the report about the bombing. There was nothing there she didn't already know. She looked at Wendy, who was breathing evenly, but she pulled up Diana's report on EDI's adoption and the following news about the injunction request. A message came from the pharmacy that her order of vitamins was ready for pickup.

Satisfied that Wendy was sleeping deeply, she got up and went back into the sitting room. Garrus had come in and was at the table talking to Klein. Garrus said, "I was about to call you about Wendy when you came in. She didn't want me and Melanie wasn't enough. The boys are in their bedroom, on their omni-tools, Melanie is in the office on hers."

Cassidy came to the table. Klein said, "Does Christopher know that his school plans are changing?" Garrus said, "I didn't say anything about it. Both boys were on edge and arguing about every little thing. I ended up instituting a silence policy."

Chesa said, "A delivery box has been left outside the door." Garrus said, "I'll bring it in."

Cassidy went to the box and opened it. She found the duffel bags on top, with the names embroidered on as they had ordered. She started sorting the clothing into the bags. When the box was empty, Garrus put it in the recycler. She said, "Take Alexander's bag in to him first and send Christopher out for his." She walked to the office door, "Melanie, some of your stuff is here."

A comm request came in from Joker. She accepted it, "Joker? What's up?" "Admiral, I just wanted to let you know that EDI and I want David to stay on the Normandy when we go off again. Your little incident on the Citadel got us thinking that we won't be any more popular with the violent crowd than you are. And I can't exactly jump to the rescue yet." Cassidy said, "Thanks for letting me know. David won't be studying alone." "That's what I figured. Glad you all got out in one piece. Joker out."

Cassidy saw Christopher standing staring at her with his bag in his hand. She said, "Come here and sit at the table with us. Christopher, this is Colonel Charles Klein, he was my first martial arts teacher. He is the Philippines' psychiatrist. Colonel, this is my eldest son, Christopher, who is 13." Christopher held out his hand across the table and Klein shook it.

"Mom, what was that about 'David won't be studying alone' ?" Cassidy said, "That was from David's dad. He and EDI are keeping David on the Normandy to do high school. The same goes for you." Christopher asked, "Why?" Cassidy said, "There are people that think that humans should keep to ourselves. They don't like that I married outside my species, particularly a turian, nor that a turian adopted humans. They don't like that the geth are helping the Alliance in the Sol System, nor do they think that the geth or any AIs can be trusted, ever. The list of things they don't like goes on from there. They tried forcibly deporting some alien students from Columbia University not too long ago. And there are almost surely behind the destruction of our apartment on the Citadel."

Christopher said, "So, we can't stay where those people could get at us?" Cassidy replied, "You've got the gist of it." Christopher said, "I'm glad that David will be there with me. Trenton, David and I hung together at school on Tip Tree."

Chesa said, "Citadel Executor Garvin Vakarian is requesting entrance." Cassidy said, "Let him in." Garvin came in with several big bags. He put those down inside, went back out and brought in a few boxes. He said, "The bags are from the dress shop. Pirisa said she's providing these for you all to wear to the wedding tonight, no charge. And these boxes are from the baby supplies shop, I believe."

Cassidy went to the bags and pulled out the outfits and hung them up. Garvin said, "Christopher, will you introduce me to your table companion?" Christopher said, "Grandfather, this is Colonel Klein, ship's psychiatrist and mom's first martial arts teacher. Colonel, this is Garrus' father, Executor Garvin Vakarian." Klein stood and held out his hand and Garvin reach over and shook it.

Garrus came in, "Father." Garvin said, "Garrus." Garrus said, "Christopher, go in the office with Melanie and play on your omni-tool in there." Christopher said, "Yes, sir." and went into the office, closing the door behind him.

Cassidy, Garvin and Garrus sat at the table with Klein. Garvin said, "Clean up is underway at Tiberius Tower. We have three people in detention being questioned about the incident, but it looks like they are all from a small cell tasked with the bombing. They won't or aren't able to say anything more about their superiors or organization. They kept saying, 'humanity must be kept pure'. I believe they followed me in, either the first time Mekira and I came, or when I went out for the ice cream shake later."

Cassidy said, "I thought as much. Typical shadow tactics. Can't pin anything on anybody but the ones you have." Garvin said, "Well, if the Council wants to talk to either of you two, they can do it over QEC from now on. I told Councilor Sparatus so."

Klein stood up, "Do you mind if I go talk to Alexander in the boys' bedroom?" Cassidy said, "No problem. Let me introduce you." Cassidy got up and walked Klein to the bedroom door and went in.

Garvin turned to Garrus and just looked at him. Garrus said, "We're pulling Christopher to do his schooling on the Normandy." Cassidy came back in and sat back at the table.

Garvin said, "There is a turian ship returning to Palaven tomorrow. You all are welcome aboard for the trip. If you would like to accept the offer, contact Captain Brackus on the Lapern to arrange things. Which room did Solana take?" Garrus said, "659. Out the door, turn to your right." Garvin said, "I will see you later." and left.


	108. Chapter 108

Chapter 108

Garrus stood up and pulled Cassidy up into a hug. He said, "I'm so sorry. I should have thought what your public support of Joker and EDI would do to the human-centric extremists. I should have suggested to you that we forget the apartment." Cassidy said, "I wasn't thinking that way, either. We are all safe, which is most important. What's done is done. We just have to go forward as best we can." Cassidy pulled his head down and put her forehead to his.

Klein came out of the boys' bedroom. He said, "I prescribe an hour of private time with your husband, Admiral. I will stay here and hold the fort. Chesa, allow Admiral and Advisor Shepard Victus Vakarian access to my suite until dinnertime. Suite 541." Cassidy said, "Thank you, Colonel." Cassidy and Garrus went.

Their lovemaking was slow, intense, heartfelt and comforting.

Cassidy and Garrus held each other as they came down. Garrus said, "I'm still sorry, love, that those idiots have hemmed you in further. I will make an effort to give you the opportunity to get out and about as much as we can. Maybe more small impromptu trips, things nobody will have the chance to plan anything for."

Cassidy pulled him back on top of her and kissed him deeply. She put her hand up under his crest and gently aroused him again. He indulged her and put a finger back inside her and went on from there.

On their way back to their suite, they stopped at the pharmacy.

At dinner, each of the Normandy crew made a point to come and express their relief at the escape from the bombing. Diana, Samantha, Ashley and Irene all thanked her for recommending adoptive parents for the coming babies of their new daughters. Christopher went to sit with David, Joker, Dizzy and Shane.

After dinner, they changed and went to the music hall.

Garrus and Juran went out the back. Garvin, Cassidy and the rest took the family seats at the front of the groom's side.

Admiral Hackett went to the center of the stage. Lee came up the aisle, followed by Garrus then Juran. They stood to Hackett's left. A man Cassidy didn't recognize came down the aisle, followed by Anita. Those two stood on Hackett's right. Tarin came in on the arm of a woman Cassidy assumed must be Tarin's mother. The woman kissed Tarin's cheek then handed Tarin's hand into Juran's. She sat down in the front row on the bride's side.

Hackett said, "Do you Juran Arterius Vakarian take Tarin Lacey Woo to be your lawfully wedded wife?" Juran said, "I do." Hackett turned to Tarin, "Do you Tarin Lacey Woo take Juran Arterius Vakarian to be your lawfully wedded husband?" Tarin said, "I most certainly do!"

Hackett said, "Juran, do you have a token to give Tarin as a symbol of your vows?" Juran turned to Lee, who handed him a ring. "Tarin, with this ring, I take you as my mate. I will work with you as my partner, doing my duty to you, our children to be, and our families and peoples with honor and responsibility." He put the ring on her finger.

Hackett said, "Tarin, do you have a token to give Juran as a symbol of your vows?" Tarin turned to Anita, who handed her a ring. "Juran, with this ring, I thee wed, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, so long as we both shall live." She put the ring on his finger.

Hackett said, "Having heard their voluntary acceptance to enter into civil union together, I present to you the galaxy's newest married couple, Tarin and Juran." Tarin pulled Juran's face down to hers and kissed him soundly.

The audience applauded. Tarin and Juran started accepting congratulations as the room was converted to dancing configuration.

Cassidy danced with Garrus, then sat out a few songs with Wendy on her lap. Cassidy submerged her attention in the moment and enjoyed the heat of Wendy's trusting body leaning into her embrace. Thane came to the table and placed a plate with two pieces of cake in front of Cassidy and Wendy. He sat down with a piece of cake for himself. Once Wendy was done with her cake, Dizzy came over and claimed Wendy for a dance. Thane took Cassidy onto the dance floor.

When Wendy's bedtime came, Cassidy took Paktal and Wendy back to their suite, once they were in bed she went to bed herself, feeling glad to be done with the day.

The next morning, Ashley came by to collect the formal wear for return to Pirisa. She came in with some packages. "These were just delivered. Probably new uniforms." Cassidy checked and sure enough, there were fatigues, casual whites and formal whites. There was also a package for Melanie.

Cassidy and Garrus got everyone packed up. They went to the staging area where the Lapern would be docking. Solana, Milin and Maklin were there. So was Thane, Anellya and Caleb. Carsel came walking up with Karin, Rafael and Vivian. Karin said, "I wanted to give Rafael a chance to visit Palaven before he goes back to school. Thank you, Solana, for inviting us. Dr Pollack will look after the girls while we're gone."

Greg and Zachary came along with Tarin and Juran. Juran's flanges looked smug and Cassidy noted the edge of Tarin's scar just visible inside her collar. Tarin said, "I never dreamed when I was little that I would honeymoon on Palaven."

The Lapern docked and Cassidy requested permission to come aboard with her group. Captain Brackus said, "Admiral, we are honored to bring you and yours aboard." They filed aboard and were shown to the mess where they took chairs to wait out the journey. Midway during the travel time, Hannah came aboard.

Hannah came in and hugged Cassidy, "Cassidy! The news had me so worried. We're all here and safe and sound. So, introduce me to my newest grandchildren properly now!" Hannah hugged Christopher and Alexander. Cassidy said to Hannah, "We are counting Thane and his new children as part of the family, so here are Anellya and Caleb." Hannah hugged them both, "You two can call me Grandma Hannah, just like all the others."

They arrived at Palaven a few hours later. A shuttle came up to take Hannah, Cassidy, Garrus, Thane and kinder to the Victus residence. The others would take other shuttles at the spaceport out to the Vakarian estate, or into Cipritine.

Adrien met the shuttle in the private parking facility. He put his arms open and hugged Melanie then Wendy. He was introduced to Christopher, Alexander, Thane, Anellya and Caleb. He hugged the children and shook hands with Thane. He touched foreheads with Cassidy, Garrus and Hannah. He reached to Paktal on Garrus' back and measured the little bit of crest with his hand. "You're growing, little one."

Adrien led them all inside. He said, "Rahana is at work, she has a crew to supervise to resupply the Lapern. I took the rest of the day off. Thane, boys, come with me, I'll show you to your rooms on the floor above. Cassidy, the girls will be in the room with the door beyond yours, as usual."

Hannah went with Cassidy to help the girls get settled. Cassidy said, "That's nice, they had another bed put in here for Anellya." Hannah said, "I asked Adrien about castrills when he mentioned seeing the record of Thane becoming your castrill. Then Garrus sent me a picture with a whole bunch of kids in your apartment and he tagged each one in the picture, so that's how I knew about Anellya and Caleb. So I sent to Rahana to put in more beds."

Wendy asked, "Grandma, Mommy, will we get a new apartment?" Cassidy said, "No, we won't go back to any apartments. We don't want to let anymore bad guys wreck it all again." Hannah asked, "When is her birthday? Soon, isn't it?" Cassidy checked the date on her omni-tool. "Wow, its the day after tomorrow. I don't know how I let that slip my attention."

Hannah said, "Don't worry, I'll plan a party. We will all have some fun."

Rahana came home in time for dinner. Introductions were made all around. Everyone filled their plates from the two side buffets. The adults ate at the dining table that had been there. The kids ate at a new table.

Rahana announced, "Taveran's ship is coming in for a week's leave tomorrow. I'd like to have our civil union ceremony tomorrow evening, if you are able to come?" Cassidy said, "We will be there."

Adrien and Hannah took them to to a music and light show. They had a great view of the lights from their private booth. Cassidy saw Carsel and her mate there, and over on the other side she saw Tarin and Juran.

The next day was a quiet one. As dinnertime approached, Cassidy got into a set of her formal whites. She noticed the skirt had small panels of stretch material in place on either side. She decided that was a good thing, because the skirt was rather snug in the belly.

Rahana had booked the entire restaurant for the ceremony. General Corinthus and his mate arrived and soon the place was full. The chef and kitchen staff did an admirable job with the levo selections. When they were down to the after dinner wine, an older turian got up and went to the raised platform. Rahana and Taveran went up and stood in front of him, with friends of theirs standing at their sides.

"We are here to witness the civil union of Lieutenant Rahana Malithax Victus and Lieutenant Taveran Pralnen Corinthus. Have either of you taken a mate before this?" Rahana and Taveran each said, "I have not."

The official said, "Rahana, do you accept Taveran as your mate?"

Rahana said, "Lieutenant Taveran Pralnen Corinthus, I accept you as my mate. I will work with you as an equal partner, performing my duty to you, our future children, our families and our people with honor and responsibility."

The official said "Taveran, do you accept Taveran as your mate?"

Taveran said, "Lieutenant Rahana Malithax Victus, I accept you as my mate. I will work with you as an equal partner, performing my duty to you, our future children, our families and our people with honor and responsibility."

The official said, "Having heard their voluntarily given acceptance to civil union, I declare these two before me as mates."

The audience applauded. Rahana and Taveran touched foreheads. The official pulled out the forms and started the group signing them.

The servers brought out dessert.

The next morning, Cassidy came out of the shower with a cranky Paktal. She said, "We need to order some more of the teething pain reliever for him. What we had was in his bag when the apartment was destroyed. He has some new ones just starting, further back." Garrus said, "If you will feed him, I'll place the order." Cassidy set about feeding Paktal.

Cassidy's omni-tool chirped. She said, "Audio only, ID sender." "Lt Commander Steve Cortez" Cassidy said, "Audio only, accept comm request." Steve's voice came on, "Admiral. I'm calling on behalf of my son Max. He says this is embarrassing, so he asked me to talk to you for him. Back at the youth home, his girlfriend from school on Tip Tree was there as well. He says she's an only child, 15 years old. Max is hoping you could find an adoptive parent for her that would send her to school on Earth, where Max is going. Her name is Mercedes Vicente."

Cassidy said, "I will see what can be done. My pleasure. Shepard Victus Vakarian out." Garrus said, "The teething medicine is being delivered. So, who are you going to approach about a 15 year old girl?" Cassidy said, "I'm not sure, yet. Maybe James and Parveen, hmm, no, the age difference might be too small there. Or maybe Anita Rodrigues? Yes, I'll contact Anita."

Cassidy put through the comm request. "Rodrigues. Oh, Cassidy, how are you?" "We are doing well, thanks. I have a request that I'm hoping you might be the answer. Do you think you would be up to adopting a teen and sending her to school on Earth with the rest of the Tip Tree crowd from our ship?" Anita thought a second, then said, "Wow. I had been thinking about adopting, now that Tarin and Juran are going to get a baby. Honestly, though, I had a younger age in mind, but taking a teen wouldn't preclude also taking a younger one, right?"

Cassidy said, "Her name is Mercedes Vicente. Chesa please pull the latest orphan availability file and copy it to me and Captain Rodrigues." They waited a few moments until the file appeared. She found Mercedes Vicente, then ordered the list by age. Cassidy said, "The youngest here in that same home as Mercedes is a 3 year old boy with a 7 year old sister. The sister has a notation under 'Atypical Needs'." Anita said, "That's probably why they are still in the home, that 'Atypical Needs' notation. Who are you looking at?"

Cassidy said, "The sister is Danielle McCalla and the brother is Liam McCalla." Anita said, "Brian and I have been dating, and now that he's on the Selk'nam, we've been messaging. Things are getting serious. I'll get as much info on these kids as I can and talk with him. But you can tell whoever the request came from that I will take Mercedes, so she can get over here and get tested as soon as possible." Cassidy said, "I'll pass on the word. We'll be back in a few days. I hope to meet your new children then." Anita said, "I look forward to introducing them to you. Wow, this is really happening. I've got calls to make." Cassidy said, "OK, Shepard Victus Vakarian out."

Cassidy sent a text to Steve, "Captain Anita Rodrigues on the Philippines will take Mercedes, plus probably a couple younger ones." After a bit, Steve sent a message back, "Max says 'Muchas gracias.' Cassidy, that was really quick. Thank you. I will offer to transport her to Terra Nova, if that's okay with you." Cassidy sent, "Permission granted to use the shuttle for a trip to Terra Nova." Steve sent, "Yes, ma'am. Thank you."


	109. Chapter 109

Chapter 109

At breakfast, Hannah had a sparkly paper crown with the number 5 on it for Wendy. There was also a crown for Jenny that Cassidy helped Wendy attach to Jenny's head.

Wendy chose the aquarium as her first birthday activity, so they spent the day looking at tanks filled with Palaven's variety of aquatic life. A specialist accompanied them and answered all of Wendy's and everyone else's questions. The specialist arranged for Wendy to assist in a communication trial going on. They put her and Cassidy in a sealed bubble that they sent floating out into the middle of a pool.

Wendy said to the VI, as she had been instucted, "VI, ask for us to be moved to the dock." They felt the vibrations as the VI sent the message into the water. A set of four tentacles with finger-like projections took hold around the bottom of the bubble. Cassidy and Wendy looked down on a bulbous bodied animal that shot a stream of water out behind it and they sailed over to the dock. A researcher tossed small fishes into the water which were sucked into the animal's maw.

They had lunch at the aquarium. The specialist got a picture of her in front of the tank with the bulbous animal right behind her.

Then they went to her second birthday activity, which was a plant research facility that specialized in producing hybridized edible fruits and vegetables. Quite a few of the plants were in flower, and the researcher accompanying them told Wendy all about the different pollinators for all the different fruits. He gave her a picture book showing the pollinations. Wendy's favorite was a silvery bird that was much like a hummingbird, that pollinated the flowers of a tree-borne fruit.

They went back to the residence for dinner, cake, and presents. Wendy received a hanging mobile with plastic forms of various fish from the aquarium from Cassidy and Garrus, along with a set of clingy fish-imaged plastics that Wendy could put on the bulkheads in her room on the ship. Hannah and Adrien gave her some barrettes with silk flowers attached. Rahana and Taveran were away, but had left her a childrens' story book that had been translated for her from the original turian, with a coloring book to go with it. Solana sent over a cloth stuffed varren toy.

That evening, Cassidy received a picture of Brian, Anita, and the three kids, apparently taken at the youth home on Terra Nova. Then came a call from Anita, "Cassidy! Thank you for thinking of me! We are on our way back to the Philippines. Brian and I have taken guardianship of all three. We are going to do a wedding and adoption ceremony on the Philippines as soon as you get back. I want you to conduct the ceremony, please."

Cassidy said, "Thank you for the picture, the girls are lovely and Liam looks so cute! It will be my pleasure to do the ceremony for you. We had planned to spend another 3 days here on Palaven." Anita said, "That should work alright. The high school kids are scheduled to head to Earth on the morning after the following day, so that's fine, if we do the ceremony that evening. That will give me some time to get some shopping done for them and to get Danielle in to see Dr Pollack. Also time for my mother to come up from Earth. She'll probably have a fit over you doing the ceremony for us, but I'll make sure she gets it out of her system before you arrive."

Cassidy said, "Tell Brian hello for me. I'll see you all in a few days. Shepard Victus Vakarian out."

They spent the three days doing touristy stuff. The kids enjoyed the engineering museum (Melanie and Wendy enjoying it for a second time) and the private tour of a warehouse where they got to operate some big machinery.

After dinner on the third day, they said their good-byes to Adrien and went up to the Iveren, which was heading back to the Sol System. Everyone that had traveled with them to Palaven were there for the return trip. Hannah went to the Philippines with them.

The next morning, EDI took Cassidy and Garrus on a tour of the nearly completed new decks on the Normandy. The geth were all over, finishing the final details, like pouring the top layer on the running track. Cassidy thought the lab was much like the one Mordin once had.

Anita invited Cassidy for a private lunch in a conference room. She said, "Brian is with the kids right now. I thought you would want to know, about Danielle, that is. Her medical records were fortunately copied in the Alliance servers, so we pulled them and found that she was an incompletely formed conjoined twin. She was the one that got the shared organs, the sister did not survive. Danielle had been on a nutrition tube and in a wheelchair all her life, until the Reapers came to Tip Tree."

Anita continued, "Once the evacuation shuttle got the kids to the salarian colony, the salarians made her a temporary replacement for the missing portion of her lower jaw and taught her to eat. That's as far as things got when the kids were all sent to Terra Nova and Eden Prime. She was doing speech therapy at the home on Terra Nova but was waitlisted for funds for further treatment."

Cassidy said, "So, what does Dr Pollack have planned?" Anita said, "Congregation really took an interest in Danielle. He and the geth are collaborating with Dr Pollack. They have already made her a new chair that is actually a geth and talks to her. It says its name is Wheels. They are working on a plan to grow her lower jaw, left arm and left leg out from the parts she does have. It will take at least a year for the growth to catch up to her stage of development then there will be therapy to teach her to walk and to use her arms in coordination together."

Anita went on, "The jaw will be different. The geth are going to make a hollow form hard enough for her to actively chew on, but with the mesh inside to support the bone growth. Eventually, the form will wear away, leaving the completed bone jaw. The teeth will be crowns, but that's okay."

Cassidy asked, "Are there any intellectual or emotional issues?" Anita said, "She's extremely smart and is used to using an electronic voice. The speech therapy is helping her and so she doesn't need the electronic voice for too much any more. She's thrilled to have a plan and she really likes Wheels and Congregation."

Anita continued, "Cassidy, we can't thank you enough for connecting us with all three of the kids. Mercedes is a bit withdrawn with us, but she's been to see Max, and that makes her happy. Liam is an absolutely sweet terror of a three year old. We absolutely need to keep eyes on him all the time."

That afternoon, a salarian arrived. He introduced himself as Lieutenant Dillan Bastil, STG scientist. Cassidy welcomed him and showed him around. Later she took him to the mess hall for dinner and introduced him to the Normandy's complement.

At the ceremony that evening, Liam stole the show. He was either crawling up and down on Anita or Brian or leading Mercedes on a chase or climbing in and out of Danielle's lap. Cassidy finally managed to get all the agreements on record and pronounced them a family.

During the dancing, Congregation stood guard at the door to catch Liam and return him to whoever was coming after him. Finally Liam crashed asleep on Danielle's lap and Anita's mother took Danielle and Liam back to their suite to go to bed.

Cassidy sat down by Hannah after dancing with Lee. Hannah said, "I'm swapping Handyside for Klein, so Brian can be here to help Anita with the kids." Cassidy said, "I'm glad. I know that Anita wouldn't be without help, but having the emotional support of your partner is important, too." Cassidy smiled over at Garrus.

Cassidy said, "We are going to have a litter of kittens in a month or so. You can have the pick of the litter after they're weaned." Hannah said, "I will keep that in mind, thank you. I haven't had a ship's cat since the Einstein." Hackett's voice came from behind her, "May I take second pick for the Philippines, Cassidy?"

Cassidy turned and watched Hackett pull up another chair to the table. Cassidy said, "Certainly. I didn't realize you were interested." Hackett said, "Our last one, Gregor, died of old age during the Reaper War. I didn't think about replacing him until you mentioned the kittens. I don't know what happened to the pet store on the Citadel." Cassidy said, "At least one cat, Fred, got out and was wandering the ducts and getting skinny. Our Callista found him and brought him home. Thus, the kittens."

Hackett said, "Be sure to let us know how many others will be available once the litter is born. I'm sure there are a few other ships that would be interested. I think Yaniss said something fairly recently about getting a cat. You should let him know." Cassidy said, "I'll send a message now," and she did.

Lisa Pasciullo came by. "Looks like a serious discussion going on here." Hackett said, "Cassidy's taking pre-orders on a litter of kittens." Lisa said, "Put me in for one, please. The oldest of our three, Jasmine, is starting to slow down."

Steve came and asked Cassidy to dance. She accepted and he led her out on the floor. She asked, "How's Max now that Mercedes is here?" Steve said, "He started smiling when we got Miguel and Ruby off Terra Nova. Now he smiles even more. Thank you again." Cassidy said, "My pleasure, especially now that I know that Danielle is going to get the treatment she needs."

Steve asked, "Are you going to be there with us in the morning to see the kids off?" Cassidy said, "Its likely that I'll be closeted with the Council over QEC, debating which relay to open up."

Kyley came near, dancing with her brother, Edward. The song ended. Cassidy saw that Kyley had a flowery lei on. Cassidy asked, "Does the lei mean something?" Edward said, "I got it for her, Admiral. Today's her birthday, she's 15." Cassidy said, "Happy Birthday, Kyley. Did you do something fun today?" Kyley said, "We went to a water park on Earth. It was lots of fun, even though I didn't get to go on the big rides. Samantha ordered me a pretty painted foot locker to use in my room at school."

It was late and the music was done. Cassidy, Garrus and Christopher escorted Melanie back to Grissom Academy. Then they went to their suite where Thane was watching over the younger children who had gone to bed earlier.

Sure enough, after breakfast, Cassidy was called up to the QEC to talk with the Council. Tevos said, "Admiral, we have agreed that your next destination should be the relay behind which should be an asari research and mining colony on Varlene, a moon of the third planet in the system, a gas giant. We hope you find survivors." Cassidy said, "We will go and see, Councilor."

The new Salarian Councilor, Loren, said, "Nice to meet you, Admiral. Did Dr Bastil arrive as scheduled?" Cassidy said, "Yes, Councilor, Dr Bastil arrived yesterday and stayed with us on the Philippines last night." Sparatus said, "Admiral, the legal status of the geth and the AI are going to be on the agenda soon. Please be prepared for testimony and questioning sometime in the next few days." Cassidy said, "I will make myself available at the appropriate time, Councilor."

The Council signed off. Cassidy went down with Hackett to the gangway where the Normandy was docked and welcomed the crew as they filed on. Hannah and Colonel Klein came on for a ride to the Selk'nam. Once the last of the line was aboard, Cassidy saluted Hackett and disembarked from the Philippines.

They docked with the Selk'nam, greeted Kiepja and said farewell to Hannah and Colonel Klein. Then they pulled away and set off to the Athena Nebula, from which they would begin their 2 week and 3 day FTL flight. Cassidy made her pre-FTL flight speech, adding new bits about the new facilities on Decks 7 and 8 (the power source being on Deck 9 now).

Cassidy was copied on a text message from Lt Holloway that all students were to meet on Deck 8 in 20 minutes. She checked and saw that Christopher and Alexander were on the recipient list.

They settled into their FTL routines, with swimming and running added to the list of recreational activities.


	110. Chapter 110

Chapter110

Two days later, the Council contacted the Normandy and EDI, Joker, David and Cassidy were all questioned, one after the other.

When Cassidy was in there, EDI's lawyer, Veronica Lankton began. "Admiral, how would you characterize your relationship with EDI D'Normandy?" Cassidy said, "She is a valuable member of my crew and she is my friend." "How would you rate her job performance on the Normandy?" Cassidy said, "Excellent. EDI is learning to interpret human behavior and language and so is gaining in ability to assist us in our duties and our missions."

Lankton continued, "As a crewmember, is she trusted with Alliance classified information?" "Yes." "As a friend, have you trusted her with any personal information?" Cassidy said, "Yes." "Admiral, do you believe she understands what responsibility for a juvenile human means?" "Yes, I believe that she understands that she must do what she is able to do to assist and guide a child's growth and development, physically, intellectually and emotionally. I believe she understands that when she is out of her depth she needs to seek assistance on the child's behalf."

Lankton asked, "Have you had philosophical discussions with her about the difference between right and wrong?" "Yes, we have discussed why the Illusive Man was wrong and why the Reapers were wrong and why the original faction of geth were right." "Did EDI assist in the defeat of Cerberus and the Reapers?" Cassidy said, "She was vital to both those efforts. We could not have succeeded without her." Lankton said, "No more questions at this time."

The opposing lawyer asked her, "Admiral, you first had contact with EDI when?" Cassidy said, "It was near her emergence of sentience." "Was your relationship friendly or adversarial?" "She was defending herself." "Can you confirm that EDI was no longer doing the job that had been assigned as a VI, was in fact killing people, so you were called in to contain the situation?" Lankton said, "Objection. Supposition." Tevos asked, "What did you do in the facility?" Cassidy answered, "I deactivated the servers."

The lawyer said, "Let's move on then. Your next encounter with EDI was when?" "She was installed on the ship that Cerberus gave me to hunt the Collectors, the second Normandy." "So, that was about two and a half years later, after you returned from supposed death, correct?" "That is correct." "So, for two and a half years, EDI was programmed by Cerberus, under orders from the megalomaniac known as the Illusive Man, yes or no?" Cassidy said, "Yes."

The lawyer said, "Was EDI free to answer all of your questions about Cerberus?" "No, there were constraints preventing her from accessing certain databases at the time." "So, the Illusive Man didn't trust EDI with Cerberus secrets then?" EDI's lawyer said, "Objection, supposition." The opposing lawyer said, "Question withdrawn. Admiral, at that point, did you trust EDI with your secrets, yes or no?" "No, I knew . . ." "Stop there, Admiral. No further questions at this time, Councilors."

Tevos said, "Admiral, continue your answer please, you said, 'No, I knew . . .' " Cassidy said, "I knew that, at that time, EDI was loyal to Cerberus. I knew part of her job was sending reports back to the Illusive Man. I trusted her to do that job, so I did not express any of my secrets in any way."

Lankton came back, "How would you characterize EDI's loyalty now?" Cassidy said, "EDI's loyalty is to me as a Spectre and as an Aliiance Admiral and as a friend, therefore to the Council, then to the Alliance, then to me personally." Lankton said, "And if she is allowed official status as a mother?" Cassidy said, "She is juggling her responsibilities just as the rest of us parents do. Fortunately, she is able to divide her attention and deal with more that one issue at a time." Lankton said, "I rest my case, Councilors."

Tevos said, "Do you, representative for the plaitiff, have any follow-up questions?" "No further questions, Councilors."

Tevos asked, "Do you Admiral, have any final statement you would like to add?" Cassidy said "Yes. This is about choosing our future. If we choose to ignore, stigmatize and fear the synthetics, then we can expect the same in return, eventually resulting in war, which we barely won this time and that only with the help of the geth and AI, and only at horrific cost. If we want to coexist peacefully, we must communicate with them, respect their abilities to act, to accept responsibility, to make decisions and judgments, to live lawfully, and to learn and grow as individuals and as a people. We must grant them legal status as people, with all the rights and responsibilities as people of Citadel Space, if we want to do right, if we want peace."

Tevos looked at each of the other Councilors and said, "We will deliberate. That is all for today. We will deliver our answer no sooner than tomorrow. Citadel out."

Behind her, applause. She turned around to see Joker, EDI, Clowder, David, Garrus, Liara and Toth. Cassidy smiled and said, "Let go to dinner."

Three days later, the Council connected via QEC. EDI and David stood in the imaging area. Joker, Cassidy, Garrus, Liara, Toth, Javik and Diana were in the area behind. EDI said, "I'm broadcasting this shipwide, Admiral." Cassidy said, "Good."

Tevos said, "We are prepared to render our answer to the complaint brought by the Terra Firma party, a human political organization."

Carter said, "It has been a very long and bloody struggle all through human history. Starting with the first trade negotiations between neighboring tribes, humans have step by step learned to expand our definitions of who honorable people can be. The tribe over there, the nation across the sea, the people not in our church, women, the people with different color skin, the people who love differently. After discovering the galaxy and learning to be friends with people not born on Earth, now we recognize that synthetic sentience can be our friends, too."

Tevos said, "Therefore we uphold the adoption of David by EDI D'Normandy. She is recognized as a member of the Systems Alliance military, with all the rights and responsibilities as any other member of the Alliance. Further, we accept the geth as a people, temporarily under the tutelage of the humans until the geth feel they are ready to act from their own embassy."

Phalanx stepped into view. "Thank you, Councilors. We have been learning and we will continue to accept the tutelage of Councilor Carter for the time being."

David shouted, "Yay, Mom!" Carter and Tevos smiled.

Tevos said, "This meeting of the Council is adjourned. Citadel out." EDI and David stepped out of the comm room into hugs and congratulations. Cassidy shook Clowder's hand, "For once, doing the right thing made political sense to them as well. I'm glad." Clowder said, "I wish to have allied military status, like Soth'Falin, for example." Cassidy said, "I will put in for you to be considered at Lieutenant status, Clowder." "Thank you, Admiral."

Joker said, "Well, Admiral, up for another wedding, when we get back, so Hilary can attend?" Cassidy said, "It will be my pleasure."

It was the morning of the 11th day of the voyage. Haley was recording data on a chemistry lab, when she doubled over and said, "Ow!" Christopher and David were on the other side of the table doing their own lab. Christopher said, "EDI, Haley needs an escort to the med bay." David went over and turned Haley's burner off. EDI said, "Staff Sergeants McDonald and Zaremba are on their way to assist you, Haley."

Lt Holloway came over and stood by Haley. David went back to stand by Christopher. They waited until McDonald and Zaremba came off the elevator with the carry frame. They came in the science lab and set it up. They helped Haley onto it and wheeled her off to med bay. David and Christopher cleaned up Haley's lab then went back and reset their lab.

Rafa was there in med bay waiting with Karin and Emory. Karin checked Haley and told them, "She's only 2 cm dilated. She's got a long way to go. Help her walk around. Haley, I'll check you whenever you think you want to be checked."

Haley labored through the rest of the day and through the night.

At 0621, EDI announced shipwide, "Samesh is pleased to announce the birth of his granddaughter, Martha Kay Bhatia. Haley, the new mother, is doing well." In the crew quarters, Staff Sergeant Jeremiah Harrington cheered, "Pay up! Baby Martha came in my block of time!"

Irene and Milin took up the galley duties for the day, with Staff Sergeant Yevgeni doing the support that Irene usually did. They didn't try anything too difficult. Breakfast was cereal, lunch was soup and sandwiches, dinner was pizza.

Arrival Day. Cassidy stood behind Joker in her customary spot and waited for EDI's report on her scan of the relay. "It should take us about 5 days to retrieve the fragments, Admiral." Cassidy said, "Are there any signals from the colony?" "There are either no signals or they have not yet rebuilt any FTL comm systems. We will need to check again inside their system." Cassidy said, "Let's go to them first. Retrievals can wait." Joker said, "Jumping. It will be a few hours."

It was after dinner when they settled in orbit above the moon. EDI said, "There is an operational comm tower, Admiral. Sending a greeting." "Normandy! Oh, ah, let me get Farin, she will want to talk to you!" EDI said, "Farin must refer to Matriarch Farin T'Conray, the lead researcher here."

An older asari voice, "I am Dr Farin T'Conray, to whom am I speaking, please?" Cassidy said, "This is Admiral Cassidy Shepard Victus Vakarian, commander of the Normandy." "Admiral is it? Well, congratulations. I take it then that there is continuing civilization out there." "Cassidy said, "Yes, and Tevos remains the Asari Councilor on the Citadel, though the Citadel will be in repair for years to come."

"Admiral, we would love to host you for a celebratory meal, but, first, would you please check on our one ship, the Eternal Hope? We last heard from them as it was leaving three days ago to chase down a relay fragment. We expected to hear an update before now, but there has been nothing." Cassidy said, "Send us the flight plan they were to follow, please." "Sending." EDI said, "File received." Cassidy said, "We will go look for the ship, Dr T'Conray. We will let you know when we find out what happened. Normandy out."

Cassidy said, "Let's jump to their target fragment. We'll reverse its course, then search backward along the path." EDI said, "Their target was one that was heading toward this system. A 42 minute jump for us." Joker said, "Jumping."

Cassidy went down to swim some laps. She was very glad for the pool and the rest of the two new decks. Lt Holloway pretty much had Deck 8 for the students' educational uses. The marines were happy for the running track and the pool. Lt Jackson said it gave them more options for keeping in condition.

She was back on the bridge to watch the fragment reversal operation. Once it was heading back, Joker turned them on the path back toward the colony. Joker said, "EDI, do a low grade signal search."

EDI said, "There may be some signal, but it is too weak at this range." Joker said, "Jumping for 30 seconds." EDI said, "Yes, I can track their signal now. There is also another signal, unknown ship." Cassidy said, "Go black before we jump in." The lights dimmed as EDI announced the black condition.

The Normandy jumped. When they arrived, Joker pulled up a map from a passive scan of the area. Cassidy could see the position of the asari vessel and that the other vessel was docked with it. There was one escape pod floating away from the two vessels.

EDI said, "I am hacking into the asari controls. The asari ship is in lockdown, I am starting a background process to bypass the lockdown. I will test the control system of the unknown vessel."

Cassidy said, "Is anyone alive on the escape pod?" Joker said, "The distress signal lists 4 asari on board. That's all it says." Cassidy said, "Let's match velocity with the pod and dock with it. EDI, the distress signal of the pod must not change." EDI said, "Understood Admiral" Joker said, "Coming alongside the escape pod, in 4 minutes and counting."

Cassidy said, "Garrus, put together a team to extract 4 asari from an escape pod. We'll be docking with it in under 4 minutes." Garrus said, "Aye, aye, Admiral."


	111. Chapter 111

Chapter 111

EDI said, "I have taken control of the attacking vessel. Admiral, the language the VI last used is yahg." Cassidy said, "Shit. Figures. How many yahg were on the vessel before it attacked?" EDI said, "One. The ship was being used by the Blood Pack. There were 3 krogan and 2 vorcha and the yahg. Visual inspection shows all 5 of the non-yahg dead in various places of the ship."

Cassidy said, "Krogan and yahg are huge eaters. The relays went down 10 months ago. EDI, was that ship sufficiently stocked to feed 3 krogan and a yahg for 10 months?" EDI said, "Checking . . . Admiral, the Blood Pack ship has a mother ship in this cluster."

Cassidy asked, "What's the fuel level of the Blood Pack ship?" EDI said, "Fuel level is sufficient for FTL travel to the relay and not much more, Admiral."

EDI said, "I have gained control of the Eternal Hope as well, Admiral." Cassidy said, "How many people are on the Eternal Hope?" EDI said, "There is one live asari and the yahg. There is one dead asari near the airlock between the ships. The live asari is Engineer Kistara Jorgan. She is locked inside engineering. The yahg is currently attempting to manually override the doors to the galley. The yahg had previously attempted to access the bridge and cargo bays."

Cassidy said, "Get me a comm to Engineer Jorgan." EDI said, "Comm channel to her omni-tool is open, Admiral." "Engineer Jorgan? This is the Normandy." "Normandy? Be warned! There is a yahg on the ship. We are locked down and he's in the passageways." "Thank you, we are aware. My AI has access to your ship. We are going to simulate a power failure, hopefully that will convince the yahg to return to his ship." "Ok. Did you get the rest of the crew off the escape shuttle?" "We are working on that now." "Good. Ok, I'll wait."

Cassidy said, "EDI, bring down the lights and shut down the air circulation fans everywhere but engineering on the Eternal Hope, leaving an emergency light path to lead the yahg back to his ship."

Garrus reported, "Admiral, we have docked the escape shuttle. Opening the doors now." Cassidy said, "Acknowledged, Advisor."

EDI said, "The yahg is returning to his ship." Cassidy said, "Disable the weapons on the Blood Pack ship. Close the airlock and separate the two ships as soon as he gets aboard his ship." "Aye, aye, Admiral."

Garrus said, "Admiral, all of the asari are aboard, we are escorting them to med bay. One in unconscious, another with serious injuries." Cassidy said, "Carry on, Advisor."

Cassidy said, "EDI, disengage from the escape shuttle, let it continue on its outward path. We are going to park." "Disengaging, Admiral."

EDI said, "The yahg is aboard his ship. I am closing the airlock. He is going to the bridge. He has instructed his VI to maintain connection with the asari ship. He wants a mass effect field over both ships."

Cassidy said, "Inform him that you are unable to generate that large of a field." "Informing him. The airlock is sealed, Admiral." Cassidy said, "Separate the two ships."

EDI said, "He has instructed his ship to return to the mother ship." Cassidy said, "Verify the coordinates of the mother ship, then set an auto-pilot flight path and send him on his way." EDI said, "Coordinates obtained. Auto-pilot programmed, leaving a back door, and engaging the auto-pilot."

Joker said, "The Blood Pack ship has jumped, Admiral."

Cassidy said, "EDI, release control of the Eternal Hope back to its VI. Engineer Jorgan, the Blood Pack ship has left." "Good to hear, Normandy. Did you get the others?" "Yes, they are getting medical attention. Are you able to get the Eternal Hope back to the colony on your own? I think we need to follow the yahg and see what kind of reception it gets from its mother ship." "Yes, the VI can jump the ship back to the colony." "We will see you back there after we see what's what. Normandy out."

Cassidy said, "Joker, let's go spy on the Blood Pack ship and its mother ship." "Jumping." EDI said, "Adjusting our flight path. We are faster, so we will pass the yahg and arrive before he does."

When they arrived, EDI said, "Receiving local signals. The Blood Pack mother ship is parked near the fueling station. There is a VI controlling the fueling station. I could query it." Cassidy said, "Can you gain control, make sure it does not report a contact they can't account for?" "One moment, I have control. There is not much data here. The Blood Pack rebuilt it and only turned it on two days ago."

The yahg's ship arrived. EDI said, "They are not scrambling their comms. Putting the audio on speaker." " . . . an asari ship out there, at my last position, power failing. I couldn't make a field big enough to bring it with me." "Your mission was to track down that mass relay fragment and report back. Where is your commander?" "Dead." "You deranged idiot! Our goal is to get out of this backwater system. Get docked and get that ship cleaned out." "Yes, sir."

EDI said, "I could tightbeam a signal to get back into the ship's system and work my way into the mother ship's system, Admiral." Cassidy said, "Just scout their system for vulnerabilities." "Understood, Admiral . . . vulnerabilities cataloged."

Cassidy said, "Take us back to the colony." Joker said, "Pulling out."

Cassidy went down to the med bay. Karin was tending to one asari who was not awake yet and the other asari was looking on. Karin said, "Ah, Admiral. I'm pleased to report that all of our guests will make a full recovery. These two here will need some further attention. Dr T'Soni escorted the other two to the mess hall." The awake asari met Cassidy's eyes, "Thank you, Admiral, for rescuing us. I am Beria, communications specialist. Where is the Eternal Hope?" Cassidy said, "Your ship should be back at the colony, which is where we are headed. Who is your crewmate here?" Beria said, "That is Lieutenant Pernovin, our facilities officer." Cassidy said, "Dr, get them installed in Dizzy's shuttle." Karin said, "Aye, aye, Admiral."

Cassidy took her leave and went to the mess hall. Liara was sitting with two asari. Cassidy joined them. Liara said, "Admiral, this is the Eternal Hope's XO, Commander Chesnal, and this is their pilot, Lieutenant Halia." Both of them reached out and shook Cassidy's hand. Cassidy said, "We are headed to the colony, where your engineer should have the Eternal Hope parked already. We'll be there soon, so you two should get to the shuttle in the cargo bay." Chesnal said, "We will go assist with moving our crewmates from the med bay, Admiral."

Cassidy returned to the bridge, where Garrus was chatting with Joker. Joker said, "Admiral." Garrus said "Zoe is upstairs with the kids." Cassidy said, "Good. Hopefully we can wrap this day up shortly here." Joker said, "Approaching the colony now, Admiral." Cassidy said, "EDI, put in a comm request down there, please."

"Normandy, this is Dr T'Conray. The Eternal Hope is back, thank you." Cassidy said, "Dr T'Conray, this is Admiral Shepard. I'm sending a shuttle down to you with the remaining crew of the Eternal Hope. As you no doubt have been told, there are Blood Pack Mercenaries in this cluster. It has been a long 10 months and they are hurting for resources. If they find you, they will try to help themselves to yours. We are going to work on getting the relay restored, probably about 5 days work."

Dr T'Conray said, "Yes, Admiral, the engineer told us about the yahg. We will discuss our options. Thank you for bringing the others back." Joker said, "Dizzy is on his way down, Admiral."

Cassidy waited until Dizzy docked again in the cargo bay, then she said, "Let's call it a night here. Joker, keep us parked in orbit for the night then we'll resume fragment search in the morning." Joker said, "Parking, Admiral."

In the morning they jumped out to the farthest fragment and started the retrieval process.

A few day later, they were bringing in the final fragment. As they entered the relay system, EDI said, "Admiral, the Blood Pack ship is at the relay, weapons ready. They will detect us as soon as we come out of FTL with the fragment." Cassidy said, "Pull the mass effect field in, letting the fragment slow to sub light, but keep us in FTL out to the other side of the relay. Take us to black as soon as the fragment is free." EDI said, "Mass effect field retracted, the fragment is adrift behind us now. Announcing black status."

Joker said, "Admiral, we are now stationary relative to the relay, with the relay between us and the Blood Pack ship." Cassidy said, "EDI, can you hear them?" EDI said, "Patching in their comms, Admiral."

The Blood Pack commander yelled, "What do you mean there is no ship? That fucking fragment didn't appear out of nowhere. Somebody brought it here and I want to know who and where they are, NOW!" Their pilot said, "Do you want to go intercept the fragment, commander?" "NO, I want you to start a sweep and find that fucking ship! They've been hiding from us, jumping in and out to the relay with fragments and NOT stopping in at the fuel station. I want that ship and I want their fuel station."

The Blood Pack ship began their sweep, heading toward the fragment. Cassidy said, "EDI, any sign of their smaller ships?" EDI said, "There are three small ships, each taking a quarter of the system to search."

The Blood Pack commander said, "Get me a broadcast channel. To the ship that brought in the fragment, please, come in and finish the job. We'd like to get out of this system as much as you do, I'm sure. . . . Nothing? Hmm, keep searching."

After more than an hour, their search finding nothing, the Blood Pack commander said, "Bring in the others. We'll go see if that asari colony is behind that ship."

Cassidy said, "Joker, get us to the colony." Joker said, "Jumping, Admiral." Cassidy said, "EDI, about how much of a lead will we have?" "Figuring that they are fully fueled and ready to jump as soon as they dock their small ships, we will have about 30 minutes, Admiral."

When they emerged, Cassidy said, "Get me Dr T'Conray, immediately." "This is Dr T'Conray, I have the Eternal Hope patched in. Admiral, is that you?" Cassidy said, "The Blood Pack are on their way. You have less than 30 minutes. They have a central ship and at least three smaller ones that can act as fighters." T'Conray said, "I place the Eternal Hope under your command, Admiral. She is fully fueled and ready. We have a ground cannon we are powering up now."

Cassidy said, "EDI, get me a comm to the Eternal Hope." "Normandy, this is the Eternal Hope, the colony patched us in on your comm. I'm Commander Chesnal." Cassidy said, "Commander, you are going to defend the colony as if you know nothing about us. We are going to flank them and cause some havoc." "Understood, Admiral."

Cassidy said, "Joker, park us behind the horizon of this moon. Garrus, calibrations ready?" Garrus said, "The main gun is ready, Admiral."

The Blood Pack ship arrived and deployed its fighters. "Asari Colony! You will surrender immediately or we will blast you off that rock." The Eternal Hope rose up into sight and one of the fighters took a shot, which the Eternal Hope absorbed into its shields. The Eternal Hope shot and the fighter's shields lit up under the blast.

Cassidy said, "EDI, get control of the central ship. Joker, line us up on that fighter that's descending to the moon. Take it out, Garrus." The Normandy's gun lit up, took down the fighter's shields and sliced the fighter down the middle.

The Blood Pack commander said, "Trace that weapon back! That ship is around here somewhere!" Cassidy pointed to a spot on the map, "Jump us over there, then take out the fighter trying to flank the Eternal Hope."

The ground cannon went off and hit the fighter the Eternal Hope had hit before. Its shields were down and its engines were burning. The other fighter battered the Eternal Hope's shields from behind. The Normandy came out shooting and took out the other fighter.

EDI said, "I have control, Admiral." Cassidy said, "Dr T'Conray, Commander Chesnal, lock on target on the main ship. Doctor, demand their surrender." Commander Chesnal said, "Our shields are down to 30 percent, Admiral. We can't take much more." Cassidy said, "We've got it covered."

T'Conray's voice, "Attacking ship, your fighters are destroyed and we have locked on your position. We demand your surrender." The Blood Pack commander said, "Move us so the asari ship is between us and the colony." Then he said, "Asari Colony, we refuse."

Cassidy said, "Joker move us at this oblique angle to them. Garrus, finish the job." The Blood Pack commander said, "Finish off the asari ship!" A Blood Pack tech said, "Weapons not responding, commander!" The Commander replied, "What do you mean the guns are not responding?" EDI said, "Taking down the Blood Pack shields." Garrus said, "Firing."

The bridge on the Blood Pack ship erupted in confusion for a moment, "Shields are down, Commander!" "Three locks on us, Commander!" "Get the shields back up you fucking idiots!" Then the Normandy's beam sliced through the Blood Pack ship.

Commander Chesnal's awed voice, "Goddess! Glad you are on our side, Admiral!"


End file.
